A Ghanaian woman named Joana Dawson-Ahmoah has fled the country to seek refuge in Canada.
Joana’s quest for safety and peace is as a result of her harrowing tale of domestic abuse spanning several years of marriage.
Born and raised in Kumasi, Ghana, Joana has recounted her love story turned sour, detailing the escalating violence she endured at the hands of her husband, Emmanuel Asan Dawson-Ahmoah, a banker and political figure within the National Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to her, it started as normal arguments in every marriage following the birth of their first child in 2018. Things however got worse from 2020 but she thought it was all stress from work and campaign activities he was actively involved in.
Following advice from family, she decided to seek refuge in another country leaving her children in the custody of her mother.
Read her full story below:
My name is Joana Dawson-Ahmoah, I was born on the 24th of February 1985, in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. I am married to Emmanuel Asan Dawson-Ahmoah; we are blessed with two children named Delvin Dawson-Ahmoah and Eugenia Dawson-Ahmoah; both 8 and 5 years old respectively. I grew up in Kumasi which is a large metropolitan area, with a bustling city life and lots to do. I am the second of three siblings. I attended Martyrs of Uganda Preparatory School in Kumasi, and graduated from Kumasi Girls Secondary School in July 2004. I continued my education at Sikkim Manipal University College where I studied Business Administration, completing in 2014.
I grew up in a close-knit family; we all looked out for each other, and did everything together. My father sadly passed away on 26th April 2008, my mother is a teacher, and loves what she does very much. My elder brother works as an auditor for the government and my younger sister is a nurse. We are Catholics and we used to go to church together every Sunday morning. while my mother is a leader in the Women’s Ministry. I have been an active member of my church and a firm believer in its principles.
During a family gathering held to celebrate the birth of my niece on the 17th of May 2008, my best friend, Abena Serwaa introduced me to a good-looking gentleman, and we started talking a few days after. We remained friends for a few months before things got serious between us at the end of the year. We had a smooth relationship which led to us getting married on the 18th of April 2015 in a beautiful ceremony, which was attended by lots of family, friends and members of our church. Our union was blessed with our first child, Delvin Dawson-Ahmoah who was born on 10th October 2015. Our daughter, Eugenia Dawson-Ahmoah was born on December 5th 2018. Apart from the normal disagreements and arguments that most married people face, we were okay and had no issues.
My husband is a banker, and he is well connected within the grassroots of the ruling political party. He joined the National Patriotic Party (N.P.P.) while he was in the university, and has been actively working behind the scenes to support the party’s cause at the grassroots level. During the buildup to the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections in Ghana, my husband was very busy helping to mobilize support to keep the National Patriotic Party in power for a second term. It was during this period that I noticed a change in his attitude towards me, he became aggressive and short tempered, everything that came out of my mouth made him angry for some reason. I cannot tell whether it was the stress from his political activities that was causing this, but it only got worse as time went on. On the 14th of August 2020, he returned from a week-long trip from the Northern Region, where he met with small groups of people, because huge rallies were not allowed due to Covid at the time. I did not expect him return as early as he did, I was returning from a church program with the kids and got home late. He was so angry and began to use abusive language towards me, that was the first time he had insulted me since I had known him. I apologized, and excused his behaviour being a result of all the stress he was under.
He continued to be aggressive and withdrawn all through the election campaign, it got so bad that on a few occasions during the month of November 2020, I had to send the kids to spend some time with my mother, I did not want them to witness all that was going on. This had an adverse effect on my health, I got depressed and could not sleep, I was just praying for the elections to be over so that I could have my husband back.
The elections were held on December 7th 2020, and the NPP retained power; I expected things to return to normal at home, and for a long period the following year of 2021 they did. My husband was back to his normal self and everything was as they were, until sometime in July. My husband had pushed himself rigorously for the party because he was promised a position if they were able to retain power, but when the names were announced, he was not nominated. I am not certain whether that was the cause or not, but that disappointment changed him completely. He yelled at me, at the slightest provocation, with threats to throw me out of our matrimonial home. I tried to handle this the best way I knew how; I did not want to bring a third party into my marital challenges, I did not do that when he had the first episode, so I was hoping that over time, things would settle down and he will come back to his usual self.
My friend Angie Wilson got married in May 2021, and I was one of her bridesmaids for the wedding ceremony. Her wedding weekend was a hectic one and I could not tend to my husband as I usually do, this angered him to the extent that he hit me. The incident happened on the 23rd of May 2021, I cried that whole night, not just out of the physical pain, but that incident hurt me in a way that I cannot explain. I never expected anything like this to happen. He later apologized that it will not happen again, and that he hit me because I provoked him. I still could not get over what had happened but I did my best to move on from it, at least for the sake of my kids.
A few days before our wedding anniversary in April 2021, we got into an argument; it had to do with our son’s performance in school. He blamed me for not being observant and not paying attention to our son’s academic work. Things got heated and he beat me up so badly that I nearly fainted. This happened two days before our wedding anniversary, it was the first time I told my mother about what was going on. I did not even tell any of my friends or my church leadership about this, I didn’t know how to even begin to explain it. My husband is such a well-respected person, who was going to believe that he, of all people would hit his wife. Even my mother was so shocked when I told her about it. By the end of the April 2021, I had been hit on three different occasions by my husband, at the very least provocation, he would just hit me. May 2021 was worse, it almost became a norm, where he would just get mad at any little thing and push me against the wall or hit me across my face. My mother advised me to move away from him for a while, so that he does not harm me any longer. My siblings did not know what was going on, I had not told them any of it. I don’t know why I could not bring myself to tell those around me. It was a difficult period for me.
In June 2021, taking my mother’s advice, I took the kids to my family home to spend some time with my family and friends there, so as to stay away from my husband. I got a call from him around the second week of June 2021, asking when I was coming back home, I told him that I will not return until he changed his attitude. He hurled insults at me over the phone and ended the call, the following morning, there was a vehicle with a police officer at my family home; the officer said he was under instruction from my husband to bring me and the kids home. I had forgotten how connected my husband was within the government, due to his political affiliation with the ruling NPP party. That entire month of July through to August 2021 was a nightmare for me, I was so depressed to the point that I even wanted to end my own life, but the thought of my kids kept me going.
I found the courage to tell my immediate family about this, which included my siblings. They advised me to leave, and that they did not want to lose me to domestic violence. My mother told them about how my husband sent a police officer to ‘drag’ me home from our family home in Kumasi. They then asked me to leave the country, where his political influence can’t reach me. I told them I would consider their proposal and that I appreciated their care and concern, but I had to make a decision that would also be in the best interest of my kids in the long term. I also did not want to give up on my marriage. I decided to leave the country for a while, hoping that my absence will help him come to his senses. My intention was to get away from him for a while. I have travelled with him and our kids to Amsterdam in the past, and I did not want to go there because he would know how to find me.
There were several episodes of violent behaviour from my husband all through the following year of 2022, sometimes I would lie about my whereabouts and spend some time in a guest house, just to stay away from him. I could not go to the authorities too because it would be useless, I could end up putting myself into further trouble. I also wanted to protect my kids; I was confused and did not know what to do. I left the country to Amsterdam in March 2022 and returned in May 2022, hoping that things would get better but that was not the case. I endured beatings and nearly got stabbed by my husband in second week of June 2022, I ran and locked myself in the guest room until my mother came. My family reported his behaviour to his family and a meeting was called in July 2022, between my husband, his two uncles and my family. My family expressed their displeasure in what they deemed an unsafe and violent household. My mother said that it was only a miracle that I had not sustained any visible injury.
My husband promised to calm his temper and assured his family and mine that he will not hit me nor verbally abuse me anymore. We returned to our normal lives and things were okay for two weeks before an argument ensued concerning dirty dishes, something as simple as dirty plates sparked a huge fight that had my husband beat me up and dip my head into the kitchen sink with the tap running, nearly drowning me. I fought for me life with all the strength I had. Luckily, he stopped; I saw my life flash before my eyes. I felt fear like I have never felt in my life. I grabbed my kids and left the house crying and shaking.
I went to my brother’s house and stayed there for a while, but my husband came to get the kids when I was not around. He did not feel any sense of remorse for what he had done, from that point onwards I became very afraid of him. That man nearly killed me. He could not force me out of my brother’s house so I was safe there, but just for a while, because I knew I could not stay there forever. I left the country for Amsterdam again and returned in November 2022. I was still looking for a way to leave with my kids permanently.
I was still not feeling safe because back home in Ghana because I knew how far his influence could reach; I managed to leave the country for Amsterdam again in February 2023 and did not return out of fear. I could easily find me in Amsterdam because he knew that is the only place I would go to get away from him. All this while my only focus was on how to get my kids. While in Amsterdam, thinking of what to do next, I heard that he had put measures in place to make sure that whenever I returned to Ghana, my passport would be seized, making it impossible for me to leave the country again. This filled me with so much fear that I prolonged my stay in Amsterdam beyond what I initially planned. While in Amsterdam, I got a message through a friend from husband that a Visa for Canada had been approved; in an attempt to get me back, he applied for a Visa for us to visit Canada as a family, but I was scared to return to Ghana. I made arrangements to have my passport sent to Ghana through a proxy to have the visa.
After I got my passport with the Visa given to me in Amsterdam, I left immediately for Canada, for this reason I have come seeking refuge. My kids are safe with my mother for now, I made sure she and my sister went for my kids from school and took them to Kumasi to be with her, my husband for some reason has not gone for them, and I am hoping to get them before he does something stupid.
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