The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, has filed an urgent application at the Court of Appeal seeking a stay of execution of the court’s judgment acquitting and discharging former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, pending an appeal before the Supreme Court.
The application was filed on Thursday, July 30, just hours after the Court of Appeal unanimously overturned Attionu’s conviction and 10-year prison sentence, acquitting and discharging her on all charges.
The Attorney-General is asking the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal in Accra to suspend the effect of its judgment until the Supreme Court determines the Republic’s appeal.
The motion, filed by Principal State Attorney Hilda W. Craig on behalf of the Attorney-General, is supported by an affidavit sworn by Assistant State Attorney Andrew Owusu-Agyemang.
According to the affidavit, Attionu was first arraigned before the High Court in February 2019 on charges including stealing and causing financial loss to the state. During the trial, she travelled to the United States, prompting the court to continue proceedings in her absence.
On April 16, 2024, the High Court convicted her in absentia and sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
The affidavit further states that Attionu appealed the conviction in February 2026 while she remained outside Ghana’s jurisdiction. Around the same period, the Attorney-General’s Office initiated extradition proceedings, leading to her return from the United States in June 2026 after a federal district court in Nevada approved her extradition. She subsequently began serving her prison sentence.
However, on July 30, 2026, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Emmanuel Ankamah, Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe and Samuel Obeng-Diawuo, unanimously allowed her appeal, set aside her convictions and ordered that she be acquitted and discharged.
The appellate court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and faulted the trial court for losing sight of the constitutional principle that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the Attorney-General argues that the Court of Appeal’s judgment resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice due to what he describes as material errors of law and fact apparent on the face of the record.
The affidavit also states that the Republic has already filed a notice of appeal at the Supreme Court and maintains that the appeal raises substantial and arguable legal grounds with a strong likelihood of success.
According to the Attorney-General, failing to grant a stay of execution could render the Supreme Court appeal ineffective if the acquittal remains in force before the case is finally determined.
The application therefore seeks an order suspending the operation of the Court of Appeal’s July 30 judgment pending the Supreme Court’s final determination of the matter.
Court documents indicate that notice of the application has been served on the Registrar of the Court of Appeal’s Criminal Division, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, and the Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service.
Attionu, the former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer, originally faced 78 charges, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and procurement-related offences.
Although she was convicted in absentia by the High Court in April 2024 after leaving Ghana during the trial, the Court of Appeal unanimously overturned the convictions and ordered her acquittal.
The Attorney-General has indicated that the Republic remains dissatisfied with the ruling and is confident the Supreme Court will overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Source: Media Ghana/ #MediaGhana
About the Author
