Drama in court…as two prominent Ghanaian medics insist on washing dirty linen in public
The ongoing court case between Ghana's leading eye doctor, Nunoo Ghartey and his wife Mrs. (Dr.) Juliet Ghartey was nearly thrown out by the judge, Mrs. Eugenia Atta-Sonno, at the hearing on Tuesday. The pleading of a chastened and apologetic prosecutor was accepted however and the case was once more adjourned.
Mrs. Eugenia Atta-Sowah, presiding over an Accra magistrate's court, expressed her dissatisfaction at the conduct of Mrs. Ghartey, who she said had been missing court proceedings.
According to the judge, since the hearing begun in June 2006, Mrs. Ghartey had missed four out of the six sittings though it was she who brought the case against her husband.
The prosecutor explained to the judge that Mrs. Ghartey had always communicated with him but the Judge said “Let her communicate through the court not you”.
It was a tense moment and the judge looking directly into the eyes of the prosecutor expressed her dissatisfaction.
“In fact”, the judge disclosed, “I was about to cancel the case, since the complainant seems not to be interested any more.”
She however adjourned the case to the August 21, and told the prosecutor sternly to “do well to inform her.”
Mrs. Juliette Tuakli-Ghartey alleges that her husband Dr. Ghartey punched her face thrice in the full glare of six uniformed policemen and two personnel of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at her Airport residence in Accra who were searching her house in a gun running case.
The incident occurred on June 3, 2006, at about 3 a.m. when the security personnel had besieged Mrs. Ghartey's house to allegedly question her about her engagement in gun running.
But Dr. Gharety, in his defense has denied those allegations, he admit slapping his wife for infidelity.
In his earlier submission, Dr. Ghartey had told the court that: “On the 3rd of June, 2006, I had a call from a friend that the police were raiding my wife's house, because they suspected a man who my wife was flirting with as being engaged in gun-running. In fact I rushed to my wife's house and coincidentally I met the police in front of the gate. I identified myself and we went in. The police opened a window which they wanted to pass through, when they opened the window; the man was caught red-handed with my spouse. Even the police couldn't believe what they saw. I pleaded with them to let me go and bring a camera, which I went for and came to take pictures.”
He said immediately the suspect saw them he rushed to the wash room, where he was followed by the police.
“I asked my wife why? She said the fact that she was in bed with another man 'did not mean we are having sex'.”
This statement, he said, “irritated me and I reacted with a slap…this is the first time I have slapped my wife…”
Dr. Ghartey showed a series of photographs depicting his wife with the lover he caught in e delicto flagrant. “I did not want the people there to see how my wife was naked, though they saw through the window”, he said.
He noted that the police wanted to take his wife away when the suspected gun-runner was arrested but he again pleaded with them not to take her away.
The man Dr. Ghartey's wife is alleged to have been flirting with is said to be one retired General of the Nigerian Army. Tuesday's hearing would have seen a dramatic turn of events as Dr. Ghartey in his defence was going to make a photographic presentation of his wife and her alleged lover in compromising positions.
“I want justice and I will see to it that it happens”, he said
Mrs. Tuakli-Ghartey like her husband is a prominent medical doctor. She was the Northeast Regional Pediatric Consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services, advising on the care of immigrant and HIV+ women and children particularly of African descent.
In 2004, she was appointed to do a National Review of Ghana's HIV/AIDS Response, and was invited to advise UNFPA on its sensitization of Ghana's traditional leadership to HIV issues. She has helped develop national health policies for the governments of Rwanda and Kenya, while her work with UNICEF on orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana spearheaded the development of a national policy on children with which she is currently engaged.
Presently, Dr. Tuakli-Ghartey is Professor of Reproductive and Child Health at the School of Public Health, Legon, Ghana.
She practices Developmental Pediatrics and HIV medicine.