The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has directed the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, to immediately file an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal that acquitted and discharged former MASLOC boss Sedina Tamakloe Attionu.
Sources close to the Attorney-General’s office told this portal that the AG considers the acquittal a grave miscarriage of justice and has instructed state prosecutors to overturn it at the apex court.
The Court of Appeal earlier today acquitted and discharged Mrs Tamakloe Attionu, setting aside her 10-year prison sentence on grounds that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
But the Attorney-General disagrees.
According to the directive sighted by this reporter, the AG has ordered the DPP to invoke the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction to quash the Court of Appeal’s judgment and restore the conviction imposed by the High Court.
BACKGROUND
Mrs Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu was CEO of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, MASLOC, from 2013 to 2017.
In April 2024, the High Court presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe found her guilty on more than 70 counts including stealing, causing financial loss to the State to the tune of GH¢93 million, causing loss to public property, improper payment, unauthorized commitment, money laundering and contravention of the Public Procurement Act, and sentenced her to 10 years in hard labour.
She had fled to the US in 2021 after being granted permission for medical treatment and was tried in absentia. She was declared a fugitive in 2023.
On June 9, 2026, she was extradited from the United States to Ghana in the first US-Ghana extradition since 2009, following her arrest by US Marshals in Nevada.
Her lawyers had filed an appeal in February 2026, arguing that the prosecution’s case was not proven beyond reasonable doubt.
The Court of Appeal upheld that argument today.
However, the Attorney-General’s office says it is not satisfied. A senior state attorney who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The evidence was overwhelming. US law enforcement, Ghanaian auditors, MASLOC staff all testified. The State lost over GH¢90 million. We cannot allow this to go.”
The notice of appeal to the Supreme Court is expected to be filed within 14 days as required by law.
Meanwhile, Mrs Tamakloe Attionu, who was in custody at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison serving her sentence before the acquittal, is expected to be released today following the Court of Appeal judgment unless the Supreme Court grants a stay of execution pending appeal.
Alexander Afriyie, supervising editor, ghanacrimereport.com and ghanatalk.com