President John Dramani Mahama, acting on the advice of Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi from the Supreme Court.
The decision was conveyed in a letter dated Dec. 4, 2025, signed by Dr. Callistus Mahama, secretary to the president, and addressed to petitioner Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta.
“I have the instructions of His Excellency the President to respond to your petition dated 30 September 2025 on the above matter,” the letter stated.
Dr. Mahama explained that, in line with Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution, the president referred the petition to the chief justice on Oct. 20, 2025, to determine whether it disclosed a prima facie case.
“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 said.
Quoting the chief justice’s determination, the letter noted: “In the circumstances, the Petitioner’s own evidential material undermines and collapses the factual foundation of the allegations.
“When compared against the sworn testimony of Mr. Jakpa, the petition’s claim that Justice Kulendi abused his office to secure bail for his cousin and that he sought to inappropriately influence the outcome of the case is exposed as a clear distortion of the record and fails to disclose any evidentiary basis upon which a prima facie finding can be properly grounded.
“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.”
Dr. Mahama added: “In view of the Chief Justice’s determination that the constitutional threshold under Article 146(3) has not been met, no further steps are required in respect of your petition. The matter is therefore concluded.”
Minister for Government Communication Felix Kwakye Ofosu confirmed the development in a Facebook post.
Background
Daniel Ofori-Atta petitioned President Mahama on Oct. 2, 2025, seeking Justice Kulendi’s removal, following an earlier petition to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service.
The petitions sought investigations into Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, over alleged attempts to interfere with the administration of justice.
The allegations stemmed from the high-profile trial Republic v. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 others, in which Jakpa, currently director of operations at the National Security Secretariat, was the third accused.
Ofori-Atta alleged that Kulendi attempted to obstruct justice in breach of the code of conduct expected of a Supreme Court judge, arguing that such conduct amounted to stated misbehavior and rendered him unfit for office.
Justice Kulendi was sworn into office on May 26, 2020, alongside Professor Henrietta J. A. N. Mensa-Bonsu, by then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Their appointments followed vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on May 11 and 12, 2020, and parliamentary approval on May 20, 2020.
