Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, has finally broken his silence about the discourse over his marriage which has been in the news and public domain within the past week.
Gyan has admitted that his marriage is on the rocks but clarified that the process that is ongoing at the Accra High Court is not a petition for divorce but an annulment process.
What’s the Legal Difference Between Annulment and Divorce?
There are two ways to legally end a marriage – annulment and divorce. An annulment is a legal procedure which cancels a marriage between a man and a woman. Annulling a marriage is as though it is completely erased – legally, it declares that the marriage never technically existed and was never valid.
A divorce, or legal dissolution of a marriage, is the ending of a valid marriage between a man and a woman returning both parties to single status with the ability to remarry.
An annulment case can be initiated by either the husband or the wife in the marriage. The party initiating the annulment must prove that he or she has the grounds to do so and if it can be proven, the marriage will be considered null and void by the court. The following is a list of common grounds for annulment and a short explanation of each point:bigamy, forced consent, fraud, marriage prohibited by law, mental illness, mental incapacity, inability to consummate marriage, underage marriage, adultery, desertion and physical/emotional abuse.
He also cautioned media outlets and members of the public against the misinformation being peddled about his marriage.
A statement signed by his lawyer Mr Edwin Kusi Appiah and made exclusively available to Graphic Online (www.graphic.com.gh) today (November 2, 2018) said, “Our client has noted the level of misinformation as well as the veiled and sometimes open attempt to discredit him, his family and or his friends and therefore we write for and on behalf of Mr Asamoah Gyan on matters that have come to his attention because they have been largely publicised and talked about within the media space across the country.”
Background
There has been much talk about the Ghanaian international footballer and Turkey-based Kayserispor attacker in the Ghanaian media space throughout this week that he has sought a divorce from his wife who he married over the past thirteen years and had also asked that a DNA test be ran to determine the real father or otherwise of his children.
Statement
The statement said: “Our client has no interest in discussing his marriage in public but the only correction he wishes to make on the foregoing is that the process that is ongoing at an Accra High Court is not a petition for divorce but an annulment process.”
The statement, therefore, asked the various media houses to be careful about what they publish on the subject in order that the children at the centre of the issue are not stressed.
It further stated that “much as our clients has no interest in discussing his marriage in public, he will hold any person, media or otherwise, to strict account on any or all things that are published about him or his children which are untrue or unpalatable.”
“For all those sections of the media and faceless outlets that have begun some sort of vendetta against our client and his ilk, please consider this letter as one, before action. If you feel inclined to test our clients resolve, then prepare yourself to do as much in the court of law,” the statement added.
Well-wishers
The statement also expressed gratitude to all of Gyan’s well-wishers urging them to desist from commenting about his marriage.
“To those with good intentions and loyal fans of our clients, to persons who on their own begun an effort to redeem our client’s name, our client expresses his sincere gratitude but will plead nonetheless for them to stop any publications of what is, or not about our client’s marriage.”
graphic.com.gh
