'That would be so absurd' — Tuah-Yeboah rejects claim Sedina Tamakloe's sentence began while in US
Former Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah has dismissed arguments that former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, has already served part of her 10-year prison sentence while outside Ghana.
His comments come amid increasing legal debate over the interpretation of Section 315 of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, which states that a sentence begins on the day it is pronounced.
Ms. Tamakloe-Attionu was convicted in absentia by the Accra High Court in April 2024 on multiple counts including stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and procurement-related offences.
She was extradited from the United States on June 9, 2026, after losing a legal battle against her removal and was expected to begin serving her sentence in Ghana.
Some legal commentators have argued that her absence from custody prior to extradition could be factored into her sentence, suggesting part of the term may already have elapsed.
However, speaking on Accra-based JoyNews on Tuesday, June 16, Tuah-Yeboah described such interpretations as legally flawed and impractical.
“That’d be so absurd,” he said, rejecting the argument that time spent outside Ghana could be counted towards her prison term.
He explained that the law must be interpreted in a way that reflects the practical realities of enforcement, particularly where a convicted person is not in custody at the time of sentencing.
According to him, applying a literal interpretation that credits time spent outside custody would create a loophole that could undermine the justice system.
Mr. Tuah-Yeboah argued that sentencing should be understood within the context of custody, stating that the operative start point should be when a convict is taken into lawful detention.