History will remember June 9, 2026. On that day, after years of evading justice under the guise of medical treatment in the United States, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, former CEO of MASLOC, landed in Accra to begin a 10-year sentence.
It was the first extradition from the U.S. to Ghana since 2009. It was proof that justice has no borders and that the Ghanaian state, when it chooses to, can be strong.
That is why the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge her is not just a legal setback. It is a moral surrender that relegates this decision to the wrong side of history.
For those who followed the case, the facts were never in serious dispute.
The High Court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, convicted her on April 16, 2024 on over 70 counts — including stealing, conspiracy, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and breach of procurement laws.
The court found she had stolen and misappropriated over GH¢90 million / $6 million of MASLOC funds — money meant for Ghana’s poorest market women and small business owners — to buy cars at inflated prices, pocket outreach funds, and pay herself.
She did not complete her trial. She left. And Ghana had to spend millions and invoke the full weight of international cooperation to bring her back.
To now say the prosecution failed to prove its case is to insult the intelligence of Ghanaians.
This decision establishes a dangerous precedent by which our commitment to justice will be measured:
1. It tells future looters that you can run, delay, and return to freedom. If a convicted fugitive who absconded can be acquitted on technicalities about a charge sheet, why should any future public official stay to face trial?
2. It weakens our anti-corruption institutions. The U.S. Department of Justice, a Nevada District Court, and Ghana’s own Attorney-General all found sufficient evidence for extradition. Our own Court of Appeal now says there was none. What message does that send to our international partners?
3. It redefines accountability as optional. MASLOC was created to fight poverty. When its CEO steals from it and walks free, we are telling the Kayayei and the market woman that the state cannot protect even the funds meant for them.
We are not against acquittals. Courts must acquit when evidence is weak. But this was not a weak case. This was a documented trail of financial loss, validated by two jurisdictions. To hide behind procedural defects instead of substantive justice is legal formalism at its worst.
Strong state institutions are not built by always convicting, but by being consistent, courageous, and unwilling to bend when the accused is powerful and connected.
This acquittal fails that test. It will be cited in law schools, not as an example of judicial independence, but as the moment Ghana blinked — when we had a chance to say no one is above the law, and we chose to say the opposite.
Ghanaians must reject this precedent. The Attorney-General must appeal to the Supreme Court without delay.
By Prince Adjei
