Karen Baaba Sam, a 30-year-old Ghanaian single mother, has filed an application at the High Court seeking to have her ex-partner, Nana Kwadwo Adjei, committed for contempt. The application follows allegations that Mr. Adjei forcibly removed the passport of their six-year-old daughter from the High Court registry, in direct violation of a court order.
According to court records, the passport had been deposited with the court per a March 24, 2025, order, which required that either parent must notify the other before gaining access to the document. On Wednesday, July 2, 2025, Ms. Sam’s lawyers filed the motion at the General Jurisdiction High Court, accusing Mr. Adjei of flouting that directive.
Details of the Contempt Claim
In her supporting affidavit, Ms. Sam explained that on June 13, 2025, she formally applied to the Family Tribunal to release the passport and to request additional directions concerning the ongoing custody trial. That application was expected to be heard on July 3.
However, she said her legal team was later informed by the court registrar that Mr. Adjei had, on June 12—one day before her own motion—entered the court premises and demanded the passport, removing it without proper authorization or prior notice, contrary to the standing order.
Ms. Sam also alleged that a day earlier, on June 11, 2025, Mr. Adjei appeared unannounced at their daughter’s school, attempting to pick her up in breach of the same custody arrangement. According to her, the attempt was unsuccessful because she had alerted the school and picked up the child earlier that day.
In her affidavit, she argued that Mr. Adjei’s subsequent move—filing his own contempt application against her on June 23—was an attempt to deflect attention from his own violations. His filing allegedly accused Ms. Sam of breaching the same March 24 court order for picking up their daughter, even though the Family Tribunal had previously affirmed her right as the child’s primary caregiver.
She further contended that Mr. Adjei deliberately omitted the part where he had unlawfully taken the passport from court custody, an action she described as a calculated attempt to mislead the court.
“As the Respondent himself argues, his conduct in removing the passport from the custody of the Court’s registry is contemptuous and a direct affront to the authority of the Court,” her affidavit stated.
Disregard for Court Orders
Ms. Sam emphasized that Mr. Adjei had shown a pattern of disregarding court directives, insisting that only a custodial sentence and the immediate return of the passport to the registry would uphold the integrity of the legal process.
She urged the court to treat his conduct as a serious affront to justice, warning that he was likely to continue flouting orders unless held accountable.
A History of Abuse
This latest legal development adds another layer to what has been a protracted and emotionally charged dispute between the two former partners.
On January 20, 2025, Ms. Sam went public with detailed accounts of alleged abuse she suffered during the course of their relationship.
Their relationship began in 2016 and, according to her, quickly deteriorated into cycles of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse.
She described the first incident of physical violence as occurring in December 2018, while pregnant, when Mr. Adjei returned home intoxicated and assaulted her.
Despite several incidents being reported to the East Legon Police, she said no action was taken. She accused Mr. Adjei of boasting about his connections within the police service, which made seeking justice nearly impossible.
Ms. Sam said the final straw came in April 2023 when she was physically attacked in front of their daughter after a public encounter involving Mr. Adjei and another woman.
The altercation reportedly escalated to the point where even visiting family friends from Germany were assaulted while trying to intervene.
She eventually ended the relationship in December 2023 and moved out with her daughter in February 2024. That same month, she reported being robbed at gunpoint in her new residence. While no conclusive evidence has been provided linking Mr. Adjei to the robbery, Ms. Sam found the timing suspicious, particularly because a necklace he had previously given her—one he later demanded back—was the only item not taken.
The circumstances surrounding the robbery prompted authorities to assign her police protection.
