Mahama dismisses petition for removal of Justice Yonny Kulendi

President John Dramani Mahama, acting on the advice of the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has rejected a petition calling for the removal of Justice Yonny Kulendi from his position as a Supreme Court judge.

The decision was conveyed in a letter dated 4 December 2025, signed by Dr Callistus Mahama, Secretary to the President, and addressed to the 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 read. It confirmed that the petition had been referred to the Chief Justice in line with Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution to determine whether a prima facie case had been established.

According to Dr Mahama’s letter, the Chief Justice concluded on 2 December 2025 that the petition lacked sufficient evidence. “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,” the letter stated.

It further noted, “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. 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.”

Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta had submitted the petition to President Mahama on 2 October 2025, following an earlier complaint to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, seeking an investigation into Justice Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, over alleged attempts to interfere with the administration of justice. “The petition that I have filed at the CID headquarters is not the only petition that I have filed. I have also invoked the necessary and relevant provisions of the Ghanaian constitution. I have petitioned the president for the removal of Justice Yonny Kulendi as justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana,” he said in an interview.

The petition arose from the high-profile trial of Republic v Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 others, in which Jakpa serves as director of operations at the National Security Secretariat. Ofori-Atta claimed that Justice Kulendi acted in a manner inconsistent with the code of conduct expected of a Supreme Court judge, amounting to misbehaviour and making him unfit for the office.

Justice Yonny Kulendi, alongside Professor Henrietta J A N Mensa-Bonsu, was sworn into the Supreme Court on 26 May 2020 following vetting and approval by Parliament. The Justice has previously stated that he feels conscripted to serve on the Supreme Court, as he did not initially plan to become a judge, a remark he made during a 2022 engagement with law students at GIMPA.