President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi from office as a Justice of the Supreme Court, acting on the advice of the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie.
The decision was communicated in a letter, signed by the Secretary to the President, Dr. Callistus Mahama, and addressed to the petitioner, Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta.
According to the letter, the President, in line with Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution, referred the petition to the Chief Justice on October 20, 2025, to determine whether it disclosed a prima facie case warranting further investigation.
“By a letter dated 2 December 2025, the Chief Justice informed His Excellency the President that no prima facie case had been established by the petition to warrant any further investigation,” the letter stated.
Quoting from the Chief Justice’s determination, the correspondence noted that the petitioner’s own evidence undermined the allegations against Justice Kulendi.
“In the circumstances, the Petitioner’s own evidential material undermines and collapses the factual foundation of the allegations,” the Chief Justice held. He further stated that claims suggesting Justice Kulendi abused his office to secure bail for his cousin, Richard Jakpa, or sought to improperly influence the outcome of a case, amounted to “a clear distortion of the record” and lacked any evidentiary basis.
“In conclusion, it is my determination that this petition fails to meet the evidential threshold required to establish a prima facie case under Article 146(3) of the Constitution. Accordingly, I find that no prima facie case has been established against Justice Yonny Kulendi by the Petitioner,” the Chief Justice concluded.
Dr. Callistus Mahama subsequently informed the petitioner that, based on the Chief Justice’s findings, no further steps were required and that the matter had been concluded.
Mr. Ofori-Atta had petitioned President Mahama on October 2, 2025, following an earlier complaint to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. The petitions called for investigations into Justice Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, over alleged attempts to interfere with the administration of justice.
The allegations arose from the high-profile trial Republic v Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 Others, in which Mr. Jakpa, currently the Director of Operations at the National Security Secretariat, was the third accused. The petitioner alleged that Justice Kulendi attempted to obstruct justice, contrary to the code of conduct expected of a Justice of the Supreme Court, and argued that such conduct constituted stated misbehaviour rendering him unfit for office.
Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi was sworn into office as a Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2020, alongside Professor Henrietta J. A. N. Mensa-Bonsu, by then President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, following parliamentary approval after successful vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee.