The Court of Appeal has cleared former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu, of all criminal charges after unanimously overturning her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.
A three-member panel made up of Justices Emmanuel Ankamah, Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe and Samuel Obeng-Diawuo ruled on Thursday that the prosecution had failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court consequently set aside the judgment of the High Court and acquitted and discharged the former MASLOC boss.
According to the appellate court’s 94-page judgment, the trial court failed to properly apply the constitutional principle that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The judges also expressed concerns about the prosecution’s handling of the case, concluding that the evidence presented did not satisfy the standard required to uphold the convictions.
The court said its detailed reasons would be made available before the close of business on Thursday.
The decision overturns the April 2024 ruling of the High Court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare Botwe, which sentenced Tamakloe-Attionu to 10 years’ imprisonment following a trial that commenced on January 30, 2019.
The former MASLOC Chief Executive was prosecuted over allegations relating to her administration of the state-owned microfinance institution between 2013 and 2016. She faced multiple charges, including stealing, conspiracy to steal, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, causing loss to public property, improper payment of public funds, unauthorised commitments and money laundering.
The prosecution, led by then Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame and based largely on investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), alleged that public funds were misappropriated through several MASLOC programmes.
Among the allegations were the diversion of a GH¢500,000 loan facility intended for Obaatanpa Microfinance after the institution declined the loan because of its interest rate, the alleged misuse of funds allocated for MASLOC sensitisation programmes, the diversion of relief funds intended for victims of the Kantamanto Market fire, and irregular procurement involving vehicles and mobile phones.
During the trial, the prosecution called seven witnesses and relied substantially on a forensic audit report to support the charges.
Tamakloe-Attionu travelled outside Ghana in 2019 after obtaining the court’s permission to seek medical treatment but did not return to continue with the proceedings. She was extradited from the United States to Ghana on June 9, 2026, marking the first extradition between the two countries since 2009.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling reverses the High Court’s findings and brings the case to a close at the appellate level, with Tamakloe-Attionu now formally acquitted and discharged of all charges.
