Business mogul Richard Nii Armah Quaye’s refusal to extend rent payment for his ex-wife, Joana Quaye, has completely reduced her and their children to the mercy of philanthropists who are now providing shelter for the kids of one of Ghana’s richest men.

Armah Quaye, known by his initials RNAQ, has been embroiled in a messy and protracted divorce which has fascinated Ghanaians for its sordidness, including wife-beating allegations and lack of support for his children.

Though a divorce petition was granted in April 2026, the wife appealed the decision to grant her one-third of a seven-bedroom house located in Dansoman, which was their matrimonial home, and a paltry GH¢300,000 after fifteen (15) years of marriage.

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This is despite Armah Quaye’s lavish lifestyle and obvious wealth denoted by his ownership of a private jet, luxurious cars, several high-end properties and thriving micro-lending businesses across four African countries including Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana.

In the latest twist in the divorce saga, RNAQ preferred to see his wife and children thrown out after the rent of a house he was compelled by the court to hire for her during the divorce proceedings ran out.

The lawyers of Joana Quaye Dame and Partners had earlier stated in September that their client had not taken possession of any of the items awarded her, including occupying the said one-third of their matrimonial home and a 2014- registered Jaguar saloon car because RNAQ had refused to give her access.

The businessman and philanthropist has locked up the seven-bedroom house for renovation and has not given her any car. Consequently, Joana Quaye drives an old Daewoo Matiz which she uses for school pick-up and her daily rounds.

Dame and Partners has filed an injunction application at the High Court to prevent RNAQ from transferring, selling or dealing in the assets acquired during the period of their marriage between 2010 and 2025.

The assets include houses, cars and other property acquired from the time the high school sweethearts married, where evidence led in court has shown that Joana’s earnings helped start Bills Micro Credit.

“This is so shameful,” said one netizen when the news broke on Facebook. “Here is a man who gives out gold bars for his birthday but wants to pay GH¢5,000 a month for three children.”

Yet another comment read, “Was this not the guy who brought Davido and Diamond Platinumz (Tanzania) to Accra for his birthday and your own children have been thrown out? Is this a matter of how he was raised, or is it spiritual? What kind of outside gentility koraaa is this? And he was recently seen with chiefs giving out scholarships. In any proper country, he should be cancelled and shunned. Where are our women's groups? What are they saying about this? If it was a poor man like me who even pushed my wife small, as you will hear them. Please find your voices for Joana Quaye, aaahhhba!”

Meanwhile, Dame and Partners, lawyers for Joana Quaye, are pressing on with newfound evidence that their client’s 10% shareholding in Bills Microfinance at the company’s registration was transferred without her consent, a potential criminal act that has its own ramifications regarding the conduct of RNAQ and dealings with his business partners.

That application has yet to be heard in court and may just signal a long, drawn-out battle and yet another twist in the RNAQ divorce telenovela series.

No Ghanaian should die due to lack of cath lab facilities – Mark Kurt Nawaane