RNAQ Divorce Saga: Joana Quaye petitions Chief Justice

Joana Quaye, the ex-wife of business mogul Richard Nii Armah Quaye, has formally petitioned the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, over what she describes as “gross misconduct” by the trial judge in their high-profile divorce settlement.

Joana Quaye, in her petition, which has been sighted by GhanaWeb, alleges that the timing was not just irregular but calculated.

She claimed that even though the judge at the centre of the dispute, Justice Justin Dorgu, delivered his Final Orders in the case on January 20, 2026, the full written judgment surfaced three months later, on April 20, 2026.

She argued that court records show that the Final Orders — covering property division, child custody, and maintenance — were issued on January 20, 2026, effectively triggering the three-month window for appeal. However, the detailed reasoning behind those orders, contained in the full judgment, was not filed or made available until April 20, when the appeal window had expired a day earlier, on April 19.

For Joana Quaye, this raises a troubling question: “Did the judge do this deliberately to deny her a fair opportunity to appeal?”

In her petition to the Judicial Council of Ghana and the Chief Justice, she argues that the judge’s actions effectively “ambushed” her legal rights.

She contends that Justice Dorgu issued what he described as the “Conclusion” of his judgment before actually writing the full decision, then released the reasoning only after the deadline for appeal had lapsed, which means that the judge "worked his way back" after writing the conclusions and filing same.

Joana Quaye also claimed that the sequence of events suggests more than just procedural delay, questioning how a judge could finalise conclusions in a case affecting her constitutional and spousal rights before going back to work on the legal reasoning behind them and releasing the same after her right to an appeal had elapsed.

To her, this points to a predetermined outcome.

She further accuses the judge of “serialising” his judgment in a manner that undermined her right to justice, insisting that the process has resulted in what she calls “two versions” of the court’s decision — one she was forced to respond to without full context, and another revealed too late to challenge.

Describing the situation as “unfair” and “deeply troubling,” she warns that such conduct risks bringing Ghana’s judiciary into disrepute.

Joana Quaye is, therefore, demanding a full-scale inquiry into Justice Dorgu’s conduct, urging the Chief Justice and relevant authorities to investigate whether the delayed release of the judgment amounts to judicial misconduct.

She argues that the issue goes beyond her personal case, warning that if left unchecked, such practices could endanger the rights of other litigants, particularly women and vulnerable individuals navigating the justice system.

I was a victim of my own success - RNAQ explains divorce

Read the full petition below:



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