Yonny Kulendi

Last updated

Justice
Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi
Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana
Incumbent
Assumed office
2020
Alma mater University of Ghana
Profession Judge

Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi is a Ghanaian judge. He is an active Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana. He was nominated and appointed a Supreme Court judge in 2020.

Contents

Early life and education

Kulendi was born on 29 November 1963. [2] He hails from Issa, a village in the Upper West Region of Ghana. [3] His father was a World War II veteran and his mother brewed and sold Pito in Wa Zongo. [3] He is the fourth of seven children of his mother. [3]

He had his early education at Ndama Primary School before proceeding to Wa Secondary School (now Wa Senior High Technical School). [3] During his fifth year in secondary school, he spent almost two years in the Wa prisons on remand, and this incident made him resolve all the more to be a lawyer. [3] Following the incident, Kulendi joined Navrongo Senior High School where he registered as a private student for his O-Level examination. [4] He later proceeded to New Juaben Senior High School from 1985 to 1987, where he had his sixth form. [4] From 1988 to 1989, he was at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. [4] He later transferred to the University of Ghana where he was awarded his bachelor of laws degree in 1992. [5] [6] He continued at the Ghana School of Law, becoming a barrister-at-law in 1994. [5] [6] He holds a master of arts degree in International Security and Civil-Military Relations from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, United States. [6]

Career

Kulendi had his advanced level national service in Bolgatanga and his post-university national service at the Legal Aid Board of Accra. [6] After his service, he joined the Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. Chambers, where he underwent pupilage. [5] [6] He later founded his own law firm, Kulendi @ Law, where he worked as the firm's managing partner until his appointment to the bench. [6] As a lawyer, his areas of expertise included; Investments, Securities, Commercial Law, Criminal Law, and Litigation. [5] Kulendi is a Fellow of the inaugural class of the Africa Leadership Initiative-West Africa and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. [6] He also served as an examiner at the Ghana School of Law. [7]

Supreme Court appointment

On 17 March 2020, the president, Nana Akufo-Addo informed the Speaker of Parliament, Mike Oquaye that consultations had been completed for the nomination of Kulendi and three other persons to be made justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana. [8] The speaker of parliament announced his nomination together with the three others to parliament on 19 March 2020 for vetting and approval. [8]

Kulendi was vetted, together with Justice Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, on Tuesday 12 May 2020. [9] Following his vetting by parliament, Kulendi was approved by parliament on Wednesday, 20 May 2020, [10] and sworn into office on Tuesday 26 May 2020. [11] Kulendi became the first Ghanaian from the Upper West Region to be appointed to serve on Ghana's highest court of jurisdiction. [3]

His appointment also now makes him a part of a small group of persons who were called to the Supreme Court bench directly from the bar. They include; Edward Akufo-Addo who went on to become a Chief Justice of Ghana and the second president of Ghana, Justice Robert Samuel Blay who became the first president of the Ghana Bar Association and Justice Nene Amegatcher who was also once president of the Ghana Bar Association. [11]

Personal life

Kulendi is married, and a father of four children. [3]

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References

  1. ↑ Service, Judicial. "Four New Supreme Court Justices Sworn into Office". Judiciary Of Ghana. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  2. ↑ Service, Judicial. "Four New Supreme Court Justices Sworn into Office". Judiciary Of Ghana. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Story of renowned lawyer Yonny Kulendi ahead of vetting – AM News on JoyNews (12-5-20)". JoyNews TV. 12 May 2020 – via YouTube.
  4. 1 2 3 Live: Vetting of Supreme Court Justice Nominee, Yoni Kulendi – Joy News Today (12-5-20) , retrieved 14 December 2022
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Yonny Kulendi". Martindale. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Yonny Kulendi". AGLN. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. ↑ "Supreme Court Justice nominee, Yonny Kulendi calls for reforms in legal education". Citinewsroom – Comprehensive News in Ghana. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Akufo-Addo nominates Henrietta Mensa Bonsu and 3 others to Supreme Court bench". Graphic Online. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. ↑ "Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, Kulendi sail through vetting". Graphic Online. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "Overlook vetting challenges – Akufo-Addo to Justice Honyenuga". Ghanaweb. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Supreme Court Justices Mensa-Bonsu and Yonny Kulendi sworn into office". Graphic Online. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
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