Sedina Tamakloe's acquittal 'travesty of justice and evidence of politicised justice system' — Minority

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly criticised the Court of Appeal's decision to overturn the conviction of former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, describing the ruling as "a travesty of justice and further evidence of a politicised justice system."

In a statement issued on Thursday by the party's General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the NPP argued that the Court of Appeal's decision to quash a conviction it believes was supported by overwhelming evidence "defies logic, law and common sense."

The party further alleged that the acquittal was influenced by political considerations.

"The acquittal was politically motivated, orchestrated and planned."

According to the NPP, the speed with which the appeal was determined, coupled with the conduct of the Attorney-General since January 2025, raises questions about the circumstances surrounding the case.

"The speed and convenience with which this matter has been disposed of, coming so soon after her extradition, and against the backdrop of the conduct of the Attorney-General since January 2025, leaves no room for any other conclusion," the statement said.

The party also accused the Attorney-General of discontinuing prosecutions involving persons associated with the governing party, arguing that the latest ruling fits what it describes as a broader pattern.

"Ghanaians will recall that this same Attorney-General has, through a series of nolle prosequi and discontinuations, freed virtually every person affiliated to the governing party who stood trial for offences against the public purse.

Today's development merely completes that shameful project. What could not be achieved through the front door of a nolle prosequi given that the accused stood already convicted has now been achieved through the back door," the statement added.

The NPP further claimed that the development undermines public confidence in the country's justice system.

"It said the pattern was "unmistakable: if you are connected to the government of the day, the criminal justice system will find a way to set you free, no matter how grave the findings against you, and no matter how many millions of Ghana cedis of the people's money are involved," the NPP General Secretary indicated.

Sedina Tamakloe Attionu served as MASLOC Chief Executive Officer from November 2013 to January 2017. In January 2019, she was arraigned before the High Court's Financial Division on 78 charges, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the state, causing loss to public property, improper payment of public funds, unauthorised commitments resulting in financial obligations to the government, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act. The alleged offences were said to have occurred between 2013 and 2016.

She left Ghana in 2019 after obtaining permission from the court to travel abroad for medical treatment but failed to return to continue with the trial. She was subsequently tried and convicted in absentia on multiple financial crime charges.

Ms. Tamakloe was extradited from the United States to Ghana on June 9, 2026, after her lawyers had filed an appeal seeking to overturn her conviction. They argued that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt and that the charge sheet on which she was convicted was fundamentally defective.

On Thursday, July 30, 2026, the Court of Appeal unanimously acquitted and discharged Ms. Tamakloe, setting aside her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.

In its 94-page judgment, the appellate court held that the trial judge failed to properly apply the constitutional presumption of innocence and concluded that the prosecution did not prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. The court also criticised aspects of the prosecution's handling of the case.

Attached below is a full copy of the statement issued by NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong

THE ACQUITTAL AND DISCHARGE OF SEDINA TAMAKLOE ATTIONU: A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE AND FURTHER EVIDENCE OF A POLITICISED JUSTICE SYSTEM

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has learnt, with utter shock and dismay, of the decision of the Court of Appeal today, Thursday, 30th July, 2026, to acquit and discharge Madam SEDINA Christine Tamakloe Attionu, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small

Loans Centre (MASLOC), who was convicted by the High Court in April 2024 on multiple counts of stealing, causing financial loss to the State, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act, and sentenced to ten (10) years' imprisonment.

Let the facts speak for themselves. Madam Tamakloe Attionu was tried by a competent court of jurisdiction over a period of five years. The trial court, after a painstaking examination of the evidence, found that her conduct as CEO of MASLOC between 2013 and 2016 occasioned

a loss of almost GH¢90 million to the Ghanaian taxpayer.

She fled the jurisdiction while on trial, was convicted in absentia, and had to be extradited from the United States of America at great cost and effort only to arrive in Ghana on 9th June 2026. Barely seven weeks later, she walks free.

Indeed, anyone who has carefully read the judgment of Her Ladyship Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe convicting Madam Tamakloe Attionu will appreciate the sheer weight of evidence that was available to the court, and which led to the conviction.

The judgment meticulously details, count after count, the fraudulent disbursements, the unaccounted-for funds including monies meant for loan beneficiaries and for victims of the Kantamanto Market disaster as well as the deliberate schemes by which the resources of MASLOC were diverted.

That a conviction anchored on such an abundance of evidence could be overturned in this manner defies logic, law and common sense.

The NPP states without equivocation that this acquittal is politically motivated, orchestrated and planned. The speed and convenience with which this matter has been disposed of, coming so soon after her extradition, and against the backdrop of the conduct of the Attorney-General since January 2025, leaves no room for any other conclusion.

Ghanaians will recall that this same Attorney-General has, through a series of nolle prosequi and discontinuations, freed virtually every person affiliated to the governing party who stood trial for offences against the public purse.

Today's development merely completes that shameful project. What could not be achieved through the front door of a nolle prosequi given

that the accused stood already convicted has now been achieved through the back door.

The pattern is unmistakable: if you are connected to the government of the day, the criminal justice system will find a way to set you free, no matter how grave the findings against you, and no matter how many millions of Ghana cedis of the people's money are involved.

This is a travesty of justice in the truest sense of the phrase. It makes a mockery of the years of investigative work by the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the diligence of the trial court, the resources expended on her extradition, and above all, the right of the Ghanaian people to see the public purse protected. It is also a clear and troubling sign of a politicised judiciary, one in which outcomes appear to track political colours rather than the evidence and the law.

When justice is dispensed on the basis of party affiliation, the very foundation of our constitutional democracy is imperiled.

The message this government has sent to the world today is chilling: in Ghana, accountability is for opponents, and impunity is for friends.

Accordingly, the New Patriotic Party demands as follows:

1. Since it is now abundantly clear that the Attorney-General and the machinery of justice under this administration have no intention whatsoever of protecting the public purse, the Attorney-General should, as a matter of consistency and fairness, immediately discontinue and discharge all appointees of the previous NPP administration currently standing trial. It cannot be the case that the law is a weapon against one side of the political divide and a shield for the other.

2. Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, must be immediately acquitted and discharged. His conviction and the outrageous sentence of twenty (20) years' imprisonment with hard labour, was politically motivated and procured without sufficient evidence, a fact his lawyers have set out in more than twenty grounds of appeal now pending before the Court of Appeal.

The contrast could not be starker: if the one against whom a mountain of evidence was marshalled, and who was duly convicted after a full trial, has today been acquitted and discharged, on what conceivable basis does the State continue to keep Chairman Wontumi behind bars,

when his conviction rests on no such evidence?

The continued incarceration of Chairman Wontumi exposes the naked double standard at the heart of this administration's so-called fight against corruption.

3. The Attorney General must render a full public account of every case involving persons affiliated to the governing party that has been discontinued, withdrawn or otherwise terminated since January 2025, together with the reasons therefor.

4. The Judicial Council and the leadership of the Judiciary must take urgent steps to restore public confidence in the administration of justice, which today's decision has gravely undermined.

The NPP wishes to assure the good people of Ghana that we shall pursue every lawful avenue, including a review of today's decision at the Supreme Court where applicable, to ensure that those who plundered the public purse are held to account. The fight against corruption cannot and must not be a partisan convenience.

Ghana deserves better. The public purse belongs to the people, not to any political party.

Signed
Justin Kodua Frimpong
General Secretary