Transparency International raises concerns over speed of Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu’s acquittal

Transparency International Ghana (TI-Ghana) has expressed concern over the speed with which the Court of Appeal acquitted former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, of 78 corruption-related charges.

Speaking on Joy FM’s NewsFile programme on Saturday, August 1, 2026, TI-Ghana’s Executive Director, Mrs Mary Awelana Addah, said although the court’s ruling must be respected, the pace at which the judgment was delivered could raise questions and potentially undermine public confidence in the fight against corruption.

“I believe that the haste with which this was done, perhaps because of the end of the legal year, I am not too sure, but we could have paid more attention to that,” she said.

Mrs Addah also noted that the outcome appeared to align with expectations that had circulated ahead of the ruling.

“We were told in certain circles that this was going to happen. The lady was going to be brought back and then there was the appeal that was going to ensure she is discharged and acquitted easily, and it happened,” she stated.

According to her, such perceptions weaken public trust in anti-corruption efforts.

Her comments followed a July 30, 2026 decision by a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal to overturn Ms Tamakloe-Attionu’s 2024 conviction and 10-year prison sentence on all charges relating to her tenure as MASLOC CEO between November 2013 and January 2017. The court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

At the time of the programme, Ms Tamakloe-Attionu remained in custody after the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, appealed the decision at the Supreme Court and sought a stay of execution. An emergency sitting of the Court of Appeal on July 31, 2026, did not determine the application before the courts began their annual vacation.

Also contributing to the discussion, Constitutional Rights and Policy Strategy Advisor at Democracy Hub, Mr Oliver Barker-Vormawor, said public concerns surrounding the case should not be dismissed, even though he did not dispute the court’s decision.

“We cannot tell people to park those feelings that they have of general mistrust… just because the Court of Appeal did a very good job,” he said, adding that the judgment highlighted broader concerns about the handling of some prosecutions.

However, former Tamale Central MP, Mr Inusah Fuseini, rejected suggestions that the timing of the judgment was problematic. He described the ruling as “seminal,” saying it would discourage prosecutors from pursuing weak cases. He attributed the collapse of the case to what he described as a “sloppy job” by the Attorney-General’s Department in preparing the original charges.

Mrs Addah later clarified that her concerns related only to the timing of the ruling and not the court’s decision itself. She stressed that judicial decisions are based on the evidence presented before the court, not public opinion.