'Girlfriend Dragged Essien To Court'

Dela A close source to Michael Essien, Black Stars midfield superstar, has told DAILY GUIDE SPORTS that it was the ace footballer's jilted ex-girlfriend, Dela Ackumey, who in a fit of rage, sent him to court to seek a huge compensation package following her claims that the footballer had not compensated her after "their divorce".

In reaction to a story published in DAILY GUIDE on Wednesday, the source, who is a close friend of the footballer, stated that investigations at the Accra High Court have revealed that Dela Ackumey rather dragged Chelsea ace to court, and not the other way round as stated in the earlier publication.

According to the source, Dela's action comes “after her quest to seek a huge divorce compensation package in millions of pounds, claiming she was married to Essien, was thrown out by a court in England. Her final desperate attempt has left her with no option but to return to Ghana to fight her claims leading to a hearing at the Accra High Court last Tuesday May 12, 2009. "

He stated that Essien insisted to the English courts where the case was first heard that Dela was only a girlfriend after she had vehemently stated that she was married to the Chelsea star.

He indicated that Essien told the English court about a year ago that the knocking rites did not amount to marriage and he was cleared.

"But Dela who started the case in Ghana in 2007 realized that she was not going to get her way and the compensation package she wanted so she travelled to England as a student and pursued the case."

He said even though English courts are known for huge divorce settlements, Dela's attempts failed, and so she has returned to Ghana as her last resort which led to Tuesday's hearing.

The source disclosed that Dela's legal representative told Justice A.K. Ofori-Atta that she has video evidence to prove that the Chelsea ace performed the marriage rites in the presence of her relatives.   

Essien, who will be flying in from his London base to testify, when a suitable date is agreed on, heavily disputes her claims.

At the court, presided over by Justice A.K Ofori-Atta, counsel for Essien, stated that according to his client, the rites performed did not amount to marriage in the Anlo tribe where Dela comes from and even if that was the case, then it was contrary to the instructions he gave and stressed that it was not a marriage rite.

Counsel for Dela told the court that plaintiff had made attempts to have the matter settled amicably but was unsuccessful on the issue of whether a marriage rite was performed or not.

Neither Essien nor Dela were in the court on Tuesday, as they were both out of the country but Dela had indicated she had wanted to give evidence via video conferencing, which counsel for Essien disagreed with.

It would be recalled that Dela sold her story to News of the World, a British tabloid, claiming that Michael Essien cheated on her several times but she forgave him. But friends close to Essien retorted that she was dumped after the Chelsea star discovered that she had bizarrely harmed herself which was caught on tape by the CCTV in his house.

By Esther Awuah