…over alleged interference in Ato Forson case
Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta, a concerned citizen from Kyebi in the Eastern Region, has formally petitioned the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to conduct an investigation into Supreme Court Justice Yonny Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, over alleged attempts to interfere with the administration of justice.
In a petition dated 29 September 2025, addressed to the Director-General of the CID, Mr. Ofori-Atta said: “I am a citizen of the Republic of Ghana with a keen interest in the development of the rule of law, good governance, and democracy.”
The petition stems from the high-profile trial in the case Republic v. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 Others, in which Richard Jakpa, who currently serves as Director of Operations at the National Security Council, was the third accused.
The petitioner highlights Jakpa’s familial relationship with Justice Kulendi, noting that he “as subsequently became obvious from the proceedings, is the cousin of Justice Yonny Kulendi, a Supreme Court Judge.”
Mr Ofori-Atta alleges that from the very first day of the trial on January 18, 2023, Jakpa “deployed the highly influential Justice of the Supreme Court Yonny Kulendi, to obstruct the course of justice in the case with the ultimate object of ensuring that the prosecution of Richard Jakpa was either abated by the then Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, or he (Jakpa) was acquitted.”
He contends that the actions of Justice Kulendi and Jakpa “border on the commission of crimes relating to interference with legal proceedings.”
Detailing allegations
The petition provides detailed allegations supported by the trial record. Mr. Ofori-Atta writes that on January 18, 2022, after Jakpa had been arraigned, he “solicited the help of his cousin, Justice Yonny Kulendi, to procure the assistance of the then Attorney-General to facilitate the release of Richard Jakpa when he had not satisfied the conditions of the bail granted to him.”
The letter claims that Justice Kulendi “actually went to the office of the former Attorney-General, Godfred Dame, to request that his cousin be permitted to go home.”
WhatsApp communications
According to the petition, under cross-examination, Jakpa admitted to obtaining Mr. Dame’s telephone number from Justice Kulendi, after which he “confidently attempted to meet with Mr. Dame and inundated him with many WhatsApp messages.”
All of these were “tendered in evidence at the trial on 18th June, 2024,” the letter states, and it is on record that “Mr. Dame refused Richard Jakpa’s invitation to meet with him.”
Extent of communication
The petitioner further details that Jakpa sent “all sixty-eight (68) WhatsApp messages” to Mr. Dame, “in reply to which the then Attorney-General sent only two (2). Richard Jakpa confirmed this under cross-examination by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa.”
Private meetings at Justice Kulendi’s residence
Mr. Ofori-Atta alleges that when Mr. Dame turned down Jakpa’s overtures, Justice Kulendi “in breach of the Code regulating his work as a Superior Court Judge, lured the then Attorney-General into meetings at his (Justice Kulendi’s) residence on no less than four occasions.”
The letter states that Justice Kulendi “would then secretly invite Richard Jakpa to come over to his house, and interfere in the legal proceedings pending against Jakpa by impressing upon Mr. Dame to stop the prosecution of the former, or ensure that the prosecution would let him go free at the submission of no case stage of the trial.”
The petitioner emphasizes that “apart from inside the courtroom and the house of Justice Yonny Kulendi, Mr. Godfred Dame has never met Mr. Richard Jakpa anywhere.”
He indicated that the conduct of Justice Kulendi and Jakpa demonstrates “a calculated effort…to interfere in the prosecution of the criminal case filed against Richard Jakpa by the Republic of Ghana,” describing it as “not only dishonourable but also borders on the commission of crimes in accordance with the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).”
Request
Mr Ofori-Atta further requests that the CID “conduct an investigation into the conduct of Justice Yonny Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, to unravel all acts of criminality disclosed by their conduct, and take such prosecutorial action as is consistent with law.”
He has also pledged his availability to provide supporting documents, including the WhatsApp communications and court records from the trial.
Attached to the petition are: copies of WhatsApp communications between Jakpa and Mr. Dame, and records of proceedings from June 6, 18, 20, and 27, 2024, in the case Republic v. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 Others.
