The young, resilient Ghanaian woman, Karen Baaba Sam, who broke her silence in January 2025, on years of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her ex-partner, Nana Kwadwo Adjei, has petitioned the acting Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
The petition is to stop the latest attempt by Mr Kwadwo Adjei to abuse her and her six-year-old daughter through the use of the court system aided by specific magistrates and justices of the superior courts.
The four-page petition dated Tuesday, 1 July 2025, and addressed to the acting Chief Justice, is entitled, “Reminder on previous petitions and further petition against continued abuse by Mr Kwadwo Adjei and some judges.”
The petitioner copied her petition to President John Dramani Mahama, the Judicial Council of Ghana, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine; the Registrar, High Court General Jurisdiction 5, Accra; the Registrar, High Court, General Jurisdiction 1, Accra; Kwadwo Adjei, East Legon and to BLG Practice, Airport Residential Area, Accra.
Continuous abuse
In her latest petition, Ms Karen Baaba Sam, stated that despite assurance she was given of a swift response, an earlier petition she submitted to the acting Chief Just is yet to be responded to and to that end, she has been forced to send a reminder to the acting Chief Justice since her ex-partner has not stopped his abuses.
She pointed out that “shockingly,” Mr Kwadwo Adjei continues to be aided by certain judges by way of rulings that leave her with no choice than to challenge them, at appropriate courts, which has prolonged the ongoing litigations in what she stressed, are undisputed grave domestic abuses perpetrated against her and her daughter by Nana Kwadwo Adjei.
The petition
Ms Baaba Sam’s petition to the acting Chief Justice reads: “Respectfully, I am compelled to submit this reminder to your Lordship of my previous petition, and to petition further your Lordship against judicial abuses that I continue to suffer at the hands of Mr Kwadwo Adjei, aided by certain judges, including the most recent violation of my lawful rights by Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng, sitting in the High Court (General Jurisdiction 1), Accra.
“On 4 June 2025, I delivered my petition dated 2 June 2025 to your Lordship. In my 7-page petition, I fully recounted my grave and dangerous ordeals of domestic abuse and child abuse that I and my barely 6-year-old daughter have endured at the hands of Kwadwo Adjei, my daughter’s father.
“In support of my account in my 7-page petition, I furnished your Lordship with voluminous pages of judicial processes to show the role that certain judges played in aiding Kwadwo Adjei to continue abusing me and my daughter since the matter was presented to the courts for determination in April 2024.
“I was firmly assured when I submitted my first petition (and on subsequent follow-ups by my lawyers) that I would receive a decision from your Lordship within days. However, I have not had the privilege of receiving and knowing the decision of Your Lordship in the past four weeks. As a result, my case of grievous domestic abuses and the custody of my little daughter of 6 years old remains stalled and uncertain. Meanwhile, Mr Kwadwo Adjei has not stopped his abuses.
“And, shockingly, he continues to be aided by certain judges by way of rulings that leave me with no choice but to challenge them as appropriate in the courts, which is further prolonging litigation in this otherwise undisputed case of grave domestic abuses against me and my daughter.
“In this regard, I refer specifically to Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng, who issued orders to Kwadwo Adjei on 25 June 2025, and by which Kwadwo Adjei, once again, published my images widely in the newspapers amidst false narratives against me, only because I am taking lawful steps to protect myself and my daughter.
“Respectfully, I have enclosed a copy of my 7-page petition. As stated on pages 6-7, under “Current Status”, I pointed out that Kwadwo Adjei had filed a review motion to quash recent interim orders that granted me access to my daughter on weekdays and granted him access on weekends. I also informed Your Lordship that I had opposed the motion, and the ruling is awaited.
“And, as I had long suspected and expected, on 11 June 2025, another High Court judge found reason to quash those orders; and also ordered that we comply with orders that were made in April 2024, which had long expired by their terms. I have since filed the necessary processes to challenge the ruling on 11 June 2025.
“Following the developments, Kwadwo Adjei filed a contempt motion against me and alleged that I had violated the very same order that he got quashed on 11 June 2025. He filed the motion at 11:02 a.m. on 23 June 2025. Barely 8 minutes later, at 11:10 a.m. on the same 23 June 2025, Kwadwo Adjei filed a motion to serve the contempt by substitution.
“Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng presided over the motion filed 8 minutes apart from the contempt application and granted orders for me to be served by a publication in the newspapers and posting on office premises belonging to my lawyers.
“I have since conducted searches and obtained advice, and I know now that Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng had no right to grant these orders, except to please Kwadwo Agyei. Once again, by a judge’s actions, I am compelled to look for funding to pay for redress of further abuses by Kwadwo Adjei.
“And, it is at the back of orders by Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng that Kwadwo Adjei, once again, splashed my name and images all over the print and electronic media on 1 July 2025, to perpetuate his abuses against me and my little daughter.
“Respectfully, Your Lordship, this is not the only occasion that I have been confronted with rulings that defy known legal bases, except to aid some unknown and clandestine purposes. Over the past year, I have been subjected to such rulings, judge after judge, except for just a few who have stood their ground against these purposes.
“And, these few judges have been threatened directly by Kwadwo Adjei, sometimes in open court proceedings. As I recounted in my first petition, even officials at the Judicial Training Institute have telephoned to threaten or convey threats to some of the few judges who stood against Kwadwo Adjei’s purposes. To date, no action appears to have been taken to address these complaints.
“With great respect and fear as an ordinary citizen and a young woman, I must add that during this same period of my dispute with Kwadwo Adjei, I have observed precise manipulation involving judicial officers.
“In one shocking instance, I observed, among many, one vehicle: a dark grey V8 Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number GM 1152-21, go to Kwadwo Adjei’s residence, and the occupant interacting with him during this period of my dispute with Kwadwo Adjei.
“I was later surprised when checks revealed that this dark grey V8 Land Cruiser is registered to the ‘Judicial Service of Ghana’. And, I have every reason in this country to suspect that such a vehicle is being used not by a low-ranked judicial officer.
“All these incidents are happening at a time when more than 15 separate cases have been filed and are ongoing in the courts – from the District Court to the Supreme Court. On 26 March 2025, when I appeared in the Supreme Court, I was admonished to do everything in my power to avoid jeopardizing the welfare of my little daughter.
“I had hoped that I would begin to experience expeditious determination of the cases, but nothing has moved forward but instead backward, and, primarily, due to orders made by superior court judges.
“Whereas my complaints against the judges in question remain without the required investigations into the specifics (including one where agents of Kwadwo Adjei directly engaged one judge in the middle of proceedings only to be confronted with grossly egregious orders by this particular), my daughter and I continue to be subjected to unimaginable abuses by Kwadwo Adjei using these strange and unjustifiable orders repeatedly calculated at exposing me and my daughter to danger and further abuse.
“Respectfully, on this occasion, I humbly request your Lordship to make a decision on the petition submitted on 4 June 2025 to enable me to proceed with the litigation which has stalled in the court. I also petition specifically against Justice Kwasi Agyenim Boateng and request that he be removed from any of the cases involving me and Kwadwo Adjei.
“This judge has more than demonstrated his bias and prejudice against me by his singular orders issued on 25 June 2025 for Kwadwo Adjei to continue his abuses against me and my little daughter.
“I have attached the records, processes, and publications since 11 June 2025, and after I submitted my first petition. And, I remain hopeful that Your Lordship will decide and make your decision known on the way forward in my cases that are stalled. I remain, with all assurances of my highest regards.”
Background
Karen Baaba Sam broke her silence on the years of 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 harrowing experiences that began in 2016 and culminated in a bitter custody battle over their daughter. Karen met Nana Adjei in 2016. What initially seemed like a loving and protective relationship soon took a dark turn.
By 2018, when she became pregnant with their daughter, Nana Adjei appeared excited, mainly 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. When she asked him about where he had been, the responses she received were slaps and kicks to her body, including her pregnant belly.
“I was more scared for my unborn child than for myself,” she recounted. She managed to call a friend, Leeroy, who intervened. Nana Adjei later apologized, blaming his actions on the alcohol he had consumed.
Over the years, Karen says she suffered repeated physical assaults, often resulting in black eyes and a swollen face. Despite her brother filing a report at the East Legon Police Station, no action was taken.
According to Karen, Nana Adjei boasted about his influence in the police, making it impossible for her to seek justice. Karen’s breaking point came in April 2023, when she encountered Nana Adjei at a restaurant with another woman, whom she later discovered was his new girlfriend.
When she attempted to leave with him in his (Nana Adjei’s) car, the woman humiliated her in public, while Nana Adjei did nothing to stop it. Karen chose to walk away. However, when she got home, Nana Adjei attacked her again, beating her in the presence of their daughter.
Nana Adjei also allegedly assaulted two family friends visiting from Germany who tried to intervene. During the chaos, Nana Adjei even kicked their daughter, causing her to fall and cry. Determined to escape the abuse, Karen ended the relationship in December 2023.
Nana Adjei allegedly reacted with threats and demanded the return of all gifts he had given her, including their daughter’s school car. Fearing further abuse, Karen moved out in February 2024.
“On her very first night in her new home, Karen was robbed at gunpoint, with all her valuables stolen. She found the timing suspicious, especially when Nana Adjei demanded the return of a specific necklace—the only valuable item the robbers did not take. The authorities believed the attack was carried out by someone close to her, prompting them to assign her police protection.