NPP Warns Against ‘Backdoor’ Moves to Overturn Sedina Tamakloe’s Conviction

The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has issued a stark warning against what it believes to be surreptitious efforts to undermine the landmark conviction and ten-year prison sentence of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive, Sedina Christine Tamakloe Attionu.

The Party contends that any attempt to overturn her sentence through extra-judicial or administrative means would inflict a severe blow on Ghana’s anti-corruption framework and erode public trust in the rule of law.

In a statement released by its Constitutional and Legal Affairs Policy Committee, the NPP described the Tamakloe case as one of the most significant corruption prosecutions in the nation’s recent history. The Party expressed deep disquiet over what it perceives as emerging moves to help the former MASLOC boss evade the consequences of a conviction that was secured through years of dogged investigations and full judicial proceedings.

The case against Ms. Attionu originated from extensive inquiries conducted by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) during the Akufo-Addo administration. On January 30, 2019, prosecutors formally charged her with a 78-count charge sheet encompassing stealing, conspiracy to steal, willfully causing financial loss to the state, money laundering, and breaches of public procurement laws. The state’s case alleged that the infractions led to a staggering loss of nearly GH¢90 million in public funds, thrusting the trial into the spotlight as a bellwether for high-level accountability.

In 2021, Ms. Attionu obtained court permission to travel to the United States for medical treatment but subsequently failed to return to Ghana to continue participating in the trial. Following sustained efforts to secure her presence, the High Court invoked Article 19(3) of the 1992 Constitution on January 24, 2023, allowing the proceedings to continue in absentia. After months of hearings, the court delivered a guilty verdict on April 16, 2024, sentencing her to ten years’ imprisonment with hard labour, a judgment widely hailed as a watershed moment for judicial independence.

For more than two years, the enforcement of the sentence remained in limbo while Ms. Attionu stayed abroad. That uncertainty was decisively resolved on June 9, 2026, when she was successfully extradited back to Ghana, marking the first extradition from the United States to Ghana in sixteen years. Her return paved the way for the immediate commencement of her custodial sentence and appeared to bring the long-running saga to a definitive close.

However, the NPP now argues that this closure is under threat. While acknowledging that every convicted individual retains a constitutional right to appeal through the established appellate courts, the party warned against any clandestine political or discretionary interventions designed to nullify a valid court ruling.

According to the NPP, allowing a conviction of this magnitude whichsecured through rigorous due process to be undone via non-judicial means would set a perilous precedent, demoralising investigators, prosecutors, and anti-graft agencies.

The Party’s statement also situates the Tamakloe case within a broader political debate over the state of accountability since the change of government in January 2025.

The NPP has alleged a worrying pattern of selective justice, claiming that while some politically exposed prosecutions have been quietly discontinued, others are being aggressively pursued, thereby raising fundamental questions about the equal application of the law.

The NPP has consequently called on the current administration to allow the judicial process to run its full course without interference, insisting that any challenge to Ms. Attionu’s conviction must be strictly channeled through the appellate courts.

“The integrity of our entire anti-corruption framework is now at stake,” the Party declared. “We cannot allow years of investigative work and a valid court judgment to be undone by backroom deals.” For the opposition, the final verdict on this case will serve as a critical barometer of whether Ghana’s justice system can remain truly independent and impartial.