Supreme Court Justice Kulendi, Richard Jakpa dragged to CID over ‘obstruction of justice’ claims

A Ghanaian citizen has escalated the controversy surrounding the high-profile ambulance trial by formally petitioning the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to launch a criminal investigation against Supreme Court Justice Yonny Kulendi and businessman Richard Jakpa.

Richard Jakpa is the Director of Operations at the National Security Council and was previously released from the Ghana Armed Forces in November 2007 for unsatisfactory conduct.

The underlying case, “Republic V. Cassiel Ato Forson & 2 Others,” involves charges of causing financial loss to the state related to the procurement of 200 ambulances during the first Mahama administration, a case that has been the subject of intense political and legal scrutiny.

The case was initiated under the previous Akufo-Addo administatrion by the then Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame.

Few months after assuming office after the 2024 election victory, the current administration discontinued the case and acquitted the accused persons.

Mr Jakpa was then appointed as the Director of Operations at the National Security Council.

On July 23, 2025, Mr Jakpa addressed a petition to the Director of the CID, accusing former A-G Godfred Yeaboh Dame of soliciting his cooperation to “testify in a manner to incriminate the first accused,” Dr. Ato Forson (now Minister of Finance), and to help “fast-track the conclusion of the case.”

The petition details a phone conversation allegedly held on March 26, 2024, between Mr. Jakpa and Mr. Dame, which Jakpa claims he has attached as evidence.

In a new twist, petitioner Daniel Marfo Ofori-Atta of Bronikrom, Kyebi, argues that the actions of Justice Kulendi and his cousin, Richard Jakpa, during the trial, constitute a calculated effort to unlawfully interfere with the administration of justice.

The petition, dated September 29, 2025, details a series of alleged covert meetings and communications spanning the period of the case, which commenced in January 2023.

Deployment of Influence to Obstruct Trial

The core of the complaint is the allegation that Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the trial, “deployed the highly influential Justice of the Supreme Court Yonny Kulendi, to obstruct the course of justice in the case.”

The ultimate objective, according to Ofori-Atta, was to ensure Jakpa’s prosecution was either abated by the then Attorney-General (A-G), Godfred Yeboah Dame, or that he was acquitted.

The petition highlights a significant familial link at the centre of the alleged plot.

“The said Richard Jakpa, as subsequently became obvious from the proceedings, is the cousin of Justice Yonny Kulendi, a Supreme Court Judge.”

Mr. Ofori-Atta meticulously outlines four key pieces of evidence and conduct, much of which he notes is already part of the trial record:

1. Intervention at Arraignment: The petitioner claims that on the very first day of arraignment, January 18, 2023, Richard Jakpa solicited Justice Kulendi’s help. Justice Kulendi allegedly went to the A-G’s office to request that his cousin be permitted to go home, even though Jakpa “had not satisfied the conditions of the bail granted to him.”
2. Facilitating Contact: Under cross-examination by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs. Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, Richard Jakpa is on record for confessing to obtaining the A-G’s telephone number directly from Justice Kulendi. Jakpa subsequently “attempted to meet with Mr. Dame and inundated him with many Whatsapp messages.”
3. The WhatsApp Disparity: The trial records, according to the petitioner, show a stark imbalance in communication between the two parties. Richard Jakpa sent a total of sixty-eight (68) WhatsApp messages to the then Attorney-General, who, in turn, sent only two (2) replies. This communication was formally “tendered in evidence at the trial on June 18, 2024.” The petitioner further asserts that “Mr. Dame refused Richard Jakpa’s invitation to meet with him.”
4. Secret Meetings at the Justice’s Residence: The most serious allegation posits that when the A-G refused to meet Jakpa, 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.” 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… or ensure that the prosecution would let him go free at the submission of no case stage.”

The petition forcefully asserts that, based on the trial record, “apart from inside the courtroom and the house of Justice Yonny Kulendi, Mr. Godfred Dame has never met Mr. Richard Jakpa anywhere.”

Mr. Ofori-Atta contends that the combination of these facts demonstrates a “calculated effort” that is “not only dishonourable but also borders on the commission of crimes in accordance with the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29)”—specifically, crimes relating to interference with legal proceedings.

The citizen is demanding 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.”

The petitioner has attached several documents to his submission, including copies of the WhatsApp communication, and records of proceedings from the trial dated June 6, 18, 20, and 27, 2024, promising to assist the CID with any further information required.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.