President John Dramani Mahama, acting on the advice of the Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, has dismissed a petition seeking the removal of Justice Yonny Kulendi from office as a Justice of the Supreme Court.

The decision is contained 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 stated.

Dr Mahama explained that, in accordance with Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution, the President referred the petition to the Chief Justice on 20 October 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 that, “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.”

The Minister for Goverment Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, also confirmed this development in a Facebook post.

Background

Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta petitioned President Mahama on 2 October 2025 for the removal of Justice Kulendi, following an earlier petition to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.

The petitions sought investigations into Justice Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, over alleged attempts to interfere with the administration of justice.

The allegations stem 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 Justice 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 misbehaviour and rendered him unfit for office.

Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi was sworn into office as a Justice of the Supreme Court on 26 May 2020, together with Professor Henrietta J. A. N. Mensa-Bonsu, by then President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Their appointments followed successful vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on 11 and 12 May 2020, and parliamentary approval on 20 May 2020.