By Bruce Asemota
The High Court, presided over by Justice Oleidi U Uduma has granted divorce to one Susann Instedt and had the celebrated marriage between her and one Musa Camara dissolved.
Delivering judgement, the trial judge gave the history of the marriage, disclosing that Susann, who has had five adult daughters and three grandchildren, met Musa Camara in her hometown in Sweden during the summer of 2020 where they commenced courtship and a smooth romantic relationship.
The judge said Musa had informed Susann before coming to Sweden, that he was based in the Netherlands where he ran into immigration issues and travelled to Sweden to seek asylum.
“Musa could not obtain legal residency in Sweden and had to return to the Netherlands, but they continued their relationship with him expressing interest to marry Susann who accepted the marriage proposal. The two got married in September 2021 with Susann agreeing to permanently move to The Gambia and purchase a house for them to live in,” the judge said.
The court heard that the couple searched for a house in The Gambia and finally found one under construction in Sukuta which Susann bought, with the total value of the house put at D4,000,000.00, once completed.
“After sending the money for the  purchasing of the house, Susann followed up with Musa for updates who failed to provide positive feedbacks, and after several false excuses and stories, Musa admitted that he had instead used the money to purchase an empty plot of and would build a house they would both live in,” the court heard.
In 2022, Susann planned to visit The Gambia but Musa informed her that he was against the idea because The Gambia Government was against young men marrying older women.
However, Susann did not buy that idea and flew in The Gambia to check the situations for herself. During her trip, Musa’s attitude changed entirely, behaving rudely and aggressively towards her and refused to be intimate with her in anyway and was continuously drunk and obnoxious calling her an old and ugly woman.
Meanwhile Susann discovered that the empty plot of land that Musa bought was purchased in his own name and not in her name as should have been the case. She also found out that the taxi she bought for Musa was not well maintained and no longer in service whilst Musa kept demanding for her to buy a new car.
However, in an attempt to salvage the marriage and improve Musa’s mood, Susann bought a relatively new large luxury car in her name for the sum of D750,000.00.
The purchase of the car did not improve the relationship as Musa continued to be aggressive and temperamental towards her, and using the new car for his own business.
Susann left for Sweden and upon her return on her second visit to The Gambia, she noticed that Musa’s family home in Brikama had changed significantly and she believed Musa had used the money she sent to purchase their home in Sukuta to upgrade their family home in Brikama. Worst, Musa informed Susann that now he wants to marry one of her grown up daughters instead.
The court also heard that Susann later discovered that Musa was all along married and has a young family whilst he was still married to her.
Justice Uduma asserted that Musa has said he was not opposing Susann’s request for divorce and maintained that the properties acquired during the marriage were gifts.
The trial judge accordingly granted the divorce and ordered the Registrar of the High Court to issue a certificate of divorce to that effect.
The judge also ordered that Musa Camara to assign the ownership of the vehicle bought for D750.000.00 to Susann or in the alternative pay the sum of D750.000.
