Dear GhanaWeb: I jilted a supportive partner for my Canadian wife; how do I compensate her?

Dear GhanaWeb,

In 2017, I was working for a large company, and life was going well.

I met a beautiful lady at work, and I expressed my feelings to her. She agreed, and we began dating. She became everything to me. I loved her deeply and did everything I could to make her happy. Our colleagues at the company were so happy for us, calling us "Romeo and Juliet" and "lovebirds."

But in 2020, the business collapsed due to poor management and some serious legal issues, which left us in a difficult position.

At the time, we were being paid in dollars, but by 2021, things began to get tough. I had exhausted all my savings, and my girlfriend supported me whenever I needed help.

In 2022, she got a job at another big company, and I felt terrible about myself. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t secure a job.

Through it all, she was there for me. She truly loved me. She would come to my place, buy groceries, and even leave large sums of money for me to feed myself when she left.

Eventually, she became pregnant and wanted to keep the child. She even talked about marriage, and after being together for so long, we planned to get married and keep the baby. But I wasn’t ready, and though she didn’t want to abort, I convinced her to do so.

A few months later, she got pregnant again. I don’t know how she kept getting pregnant, but I asked her to terminate the pregnancy again. At this point, she was pressuring me about marriage, so she sold her father’s land and brought me 70,000 cedis for our wedding. But I wasn’t interested in marrying her.

One day, while scrolling through Facebook, I reconnected with an old schoolmate from JHS who was now living in Canada. We started talking, and she looked beautiful. We reminisced about our school days, and I began to develop feelings for her.

Meanwhile, my girlfriend was still doing everything for me: cooking, cleaning, and nagging me about marriage. But I couldn’t accept the idea of a woman paying for our wedding.

My new friend, who was a nurse in Canada, was more understanding. She wasn’t pressuring me, and she told me she could help me relocate to Canada if I was interested.

I had been thinking about relocating but didn’t know how I could afford it. That’s when I remembered the 70,000 cedis my girlfriend had given me for the wedding.

I took the money, and without telling her, I started preparing my papers to relocate to Canada. When she noticed the money was gone, I lied to her, telling her I had invested it and that it would yield a profit soon. She believed me.

In 2023, I finally left Ghana for Canada, and I stopped communicating with her. I changed my number and made a fresh start.

Once I arrived, things quickly turned around. I found a good job as an engineer, and my friend was very supportive, helping me with all the necessary paperwork to stay in Canada. I stayed with her and never mentioned my girlfriend in Ghana, despite her asking several times. My focus was entirely on building a better life in Canada.

In June 2024, I bought land in Accra and began building. I then proposed to my Canadian friend, and she accepted. We returned to Ghana for the wedding, and when my ex-girlfriend heard the news, she was devastated. Her mental health has since worsened, and she’s been fired from two different jobs.

Now, I feel guilty and want to compensate her in some way. I plan to give her some money before I leave the country, but I don’t know how much would be appropriate.

Is GH¢300,000 enough to make amends for everything I’ve done? I have two months left in Ghana, and I’m unsure when I’ll return.

Please, how much should I give her to compensate for my actions?

FG/EB