Supreme Court Judge, Justice Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, has urged Ghanaians to stop offering bribes to judges, arguing that public participation is essential to tackling corruption within the judiciary.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, on perceptions of corruption in the justice system, Justice Kulendi acknowledged that while some judicial officers engage in corrupt practices, many others serve with integrity and dedication.
“I say to people, listen, judges don’t give themselves bribes. It is litigants and Ghanaians who will offer the judge their bribe, even for the judge to contemplate it. So stop bribing your judges because the judge is not supposed to sell justice to you,” he said.
Justice Kulendi said the perception that judges are corrupt, reflected in surveys such as Afrobarometer, should not obscure the fact that the judiciary also has many honest and hardworking officers.
“I’m not one of those who will say that there are no corrupt judges or there are no corrupt judicial officers. Then they must have come from some other planet, and they are not Ghanaians,” he said.
“So the judges are just a cross-section of Ghanaians. And so to the extent that our society has corrupt people, some of them have filtered into the judiciary.”
He described the judiciary as a particularly attractive target for individuals already inclined toward corruption because of the influence judges wield over legal disputes.
“The judiciary presents a very predatory and opportunistic avenue for somebody who is already disposed to corruption to manifest that outrageous disposition fully. So it is there,” he said.
However, Justice Kulendi stressed that the judiciary also comprises “very honest, dedicated men and women of integrity” who remain committed to dispensing justice fairly.
Referring to the aftermath of the “Number 12” judicial corruption exposé, he said disciplinary action against errant judges continues, although due process must always be followed.
“Day in, day out, people are being flushed out of the system. But there are considerations of due process. Anybody who is a judge was first a lawyer, and then they became a judge. So when you’re dealing with them, you can’t be arbitrary, and you cannot compromise due process.”
He said the Judicial Service has intensified ethics training and continuously reminds judges of the standards expected of them.
Justice Kulendi also urged members of the public to report judges they know to be corrupt instead of shielding them because of personal relationships.
“If you know a corrupt judge, expose the judge. The judge who is collecting bribes is somebody’s husband, somebody’s father, somebody’s uncle. So if you know them and you love them, you accommodate them.”
“Maybe we are a corrupt society, but let’s create the judiciary that we want and the judges that we want.”
He assured the public that the judiciary would not protect judges found guilty of corruption.
“If you are exposed, if you are caught, the judiciary will not tolerate you because it’s very destructive,” he said.
Justice Kulendi added that sweeping claims that all judges are corrupt are unfair to the many judicial officers who sacrifice more lucrative careers in private practice to serve on the bench.
“If I wanted money, I wouldn’t have quit private practice to become a judge. And so I’m definitely not a corrupt judge. And I know many of my colleagues who are more upright than me. But are there bad nuts? Yes, they are. We must continue to find them out, fish them out, and continue to purge the system.”
