News:
June 25, 2026
Manhyia South Member of Parliament and spokesperson for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has alleged that convicted former MASLOC CEO Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was not in prison custody for 15 days following her extradition to Ghana, accusing the government of contempt of court.
Addressing the media, Awuah stated that his committee had conducted an independent verification of Tamakloe-Attionu’s whereabouts. He confirmed she arrived in Ghana on June 9, 2026, but was only admitted into prison custody on June 24—15 days later.
“Indeed, we have done so. We can categorically state that until yesterday the 24th of June, Madame Sedina Tamakloe was not in prison custody,” Awuah said. “From the 9th of June when she arrived to the 24th of June yesterday, she was not in prison custody. That is a matter of record.”
Government Assurances and Security Concerns
Awuah revealed that his intelligence suggests Tamakloe-Attionu had been assured she would not serve time in prison, with officials working to overturn her sentence. He claimed she was only transferred to prison custody due to mounting public pressure.
“The government has decided to deliver her into prison custody. Our intel is that they have also assured her that whichever is earlier—be it public pressure coming down or the decision of the court coming out—she will be made to go out,” Awuah stated.
While confirming Tamakloe-Attionu is now in a female section of a medium-security prison, Awuah declined to name the facility. He cited intelligence that authorities might use security concerns as a pretext to move her, saying: “We do not want to put the name of the facility out just to prevent the situation where they will come out and say that because of her security, they are moving her from the facility.”
Accusations of Political Protection
The MP, who is also a lawyer, expressed bewilderment at the government’s assurances to the convicted former official. “I am a lawyer and I don’t know how it is going to be done,” he said, referring to promises to have the court’s decision overturned.
Awuah issued a stern warning to the government, arguing that delaying her imprisonment interfered with a lawful court order. “By preventing her from serving her prison term for the 15 days that she has been in Ghana, it has interfered with a lawful order of a court of competent jurisdiction. That is contempt of court,” he declared.
He accused the government of protecting its own when it comes to corruption cases, citing a pattern of leniency toward members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). “The Ghanaian people are watching us very closely as political class. They are tired of the way and manner we protect or government protects their own when it comes to corruption and corruption-related cases,” Awuah said.
Background on the Case
Tamakloe-Attionu, former CEO of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), was convicted in absentia in 2024 by an Accra High Court and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labor for multiple offences, including causing financial loss of nearly GH¢90 million to the state and stealing. She had been granted permission to travel to the United States for medical treatment in 2021 but failed to return.
After a lengthy extradition process, she was arrested in the US and returned to Ghana on June 9, 2026. Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak has since confirmed she is in prison custody and not in a private facility, though he has declined to disclose her specific location citing security concerns.
Awuah concluded by promising that the NPP would continue monitoring the situation, stating: “The trend cannot be that any time an NDC member falls foul of the law, the person is protected and the person is prevented from or secured from facing the law. We are keeping an eye on the matter.”
Dominic Shirimori/Ghanamps.com