Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers, a legal practitioner, has raised concerns about how government machinery fights corruption in the country, describing recent developments as “a game of chess.”
He argues that attention is given to prosecuting duty-bearers who cost the State, based on which political party is in power.
According to him, the party in power determines which cases the State pursues, prosecuting those involving the opposition and dismissing others involving their own people.
Commenting on the acquittal and discharging of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu, by the Court of Appeal on Thursday, July 30, 2026, on TV3, the lawyer said governments now consider cases with their parties interest as priority rather than the State.
“You will know that the thing has become like a game of chess. Depending on the party in power, they will conserve their people,” he noted, stressing on the impact of such practices on Ghana’s democracy. “That is not good for this country, not good for our democracy.”
He bemoaned how politicians promise to fight corruption when in opposition and assume power to do the opposite.
“You cannot make promises and say that you will fight corruption, yet you come and your own attitude gives a different result,” he stated.
Mr. Brako-Powers indicated that Ghana is not making any progress with how successive governments have fared with corruption fight, saying: “It looks like we are not making any difference. So we take three steps forward [and] take 10 steps backwards. We are not progressing and that is dangerous for our society.”
The Court of Appeal on Thursday, July 30, 2026, ruled that the former MASCLOC CEO should not have been sentenced as the prosecution could not prove the charges levelled against her.
Madam Tamakloe-Attionu was in April 2024, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in absentia after the Accra High Court convicted her of 78 counts of offences including stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and improper payment of public funds.
She has been serving the 10-year prison sentence after being extradited from the United States to Ghana in June 2026.
Her trial began with investigations into alleged financial irregularities during her tenure at MASLOC between 2013 and 2016, resulting in alleged significant losses to the state.
Tamakloe-Ationu was accused of embezzling GH¢3.19 million and causing a deliberate financial loss of GH¢1.97 million to the state.
The former MASLOC boss had travelled to the US for a court-approved medical trip but failed to return, leading to extradition proceedings. She was arrested by US Marshals in Texas and detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Center before being extradited to Ghana on June 9, 2026.
Upon arrival, she was taken into custody and underwent routine medical examinations before beginning her sentence.
Her lawyers filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal in May 2024, to overturn her conviction and sentence, arguing that the charges were defective and lacked sufficient details.
But the court has ruled that the prosecution could not prove the charges levelled against her.
Following her extradition to Ghana to commence her sentencing, concerns were raised over whether she was going to serve the jail term or going to receive a presidential pardon. But some bigwigs in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) insisted President Mahama was not going to grant her any pardon.
State should return to court over Sedina Tamakloe’s sentence after 2-year absconsion – Kpebu
