Karen Baaba Sam, a 30-year-old Ghanaian single mother, has filed a contempt application against the father of her daughter, Nana Kwadwo Adjei, for allegedly obtaining the passport of their six-year-old daughter from the High Court registry.The applicant said the action of Adjei was in breach of an existing court order that requires the passport to be deposited at the court and only to be obtained by either party on notice to each other.The motion for an order to commit Nana Kwadwo Adjei for contempt was filed by lawyers of Ms Karen Baaba Sam on Wednesday, 2 July 2025, at the General Jurisdiction High Court.In her affidavit in support of her motion, Ms Baaba Sam pointed out that on June 13, 2025, she applied to the Family Tribunal seeking an order to release her daughter's passport to her and to provide further directions on the trial.
The motion was scheduled to be moved on 3 July 2025."However, my lawyers were informed by the registrar that on 12 June 2025, the Respondent (Nana Kwadwo Adjei) went to the registry and forcefully demanded and took away my daughter's passport that had been deposited at the registry under the 24 March 2025 order."That earlier on 11 June 2025, the Respondent rushed to my daughter's school to attempt to pick up my daughter, even though he had no right to do so under the existing court orders.
The Respondent could not gain access to my daughter, only because I had earlier submitted a letter to the school and picked up my daughter," Karen Baaba Sam deposed in her affidavit."To cover his own earlier violations, the Respondent then instituted contempt proceedings against me on 23 June 2025, and contended therein that the 24 March 2025 order is still in force and that I should be punished for picking up my daughter from the school even though the Family Tribunal had confirmed my statutory right of having the primary care of my daughter.Baaba further stated in the affidavit Adjei, 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.Ms Baaba Sam pointed out that Nana Adjei has demonstrated a gross disregard for the orders and processes of the Family Tribunal, and he is determined to continue his flagrant disobedience unless he is committed to prison.She argued further that the only sanction that would effectively address Nana Adjei's open disrespect for the court is for him to be severely punished and ordered to purge himself by returning the passport to the court's custody.Karen Baaba Sam broke her silence on the years of alleged physical, verbal, and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of her ex-partner, Nana Adjei, on 20 January 2025.In a chilling account, Karen details the alleged harrowing experiences that began in 2016 and culminated in a bitter custody battle over their daughter.Karen said she met Nana Adjei in 2016 and that what initially seemed like a loving and protective relationship soon took a dark turn.By 2018, when she became pregnant with their daughter, she said Nana Adjei appeared excited, since most of his children from previous relationships lived abroad with their mothers.
However, cracks began to show when his second son, who had moved in with them, left after suffering physical abuse from his father.Karen recalls the first incident of domestic violence occurring in December 2018, when Nana Adjei returned home drunk after a night out.
