Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has dismissed claims linking him or the Akufo-Addo administration to the circumstances that led to the acquittal and discharge of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu.
In a press statement dated July 31, 2026, Mr. Dame described as “false and misleading” assertions by some communicators of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and government officials that sought to blame his tenure for the outcome of the appeal.
According to him, the Office of the Attorney-General was never served with a notice of appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024. He said state attorneys only became aware of the appeal in April 2026 after the Court of Appeal directed the parties to file their written submissions.
Mr. Dame further argued that even if an appeal had been filed in 2024, no further action was taken by the appellant until after the NDC assumed office, making it impossible for his administration to have acted on the matter.
The former Attorney-General also defended his handling of the case, stating that after securing Sedina Attionu’s conviction, his office pursued her extradition from the United States to ensure she served her sentence. He noted that the United States District Court in Nevada upheld Ghana’s extradition request on April 9, 2026, committing her to custody pending extradition by the U.S. Secretary of State.
He maintained that throughout the extradition proceedings, no mention was made of any appeal pending in Ghana.
Mr. Dame explained that lawyers for Sedina Attionu were only granted leave to file written submissions in the Court of Appeal on February 10, 2026, and filed them two days later, at a time when he was no longer Attorney-General. He added that state attorneys were surprised when they were served with the appellant’s submissions on February 16, 2026, having received no prior notice of the proceedings.
According to the statement, the prosecution subsequently sought leave to file its own submissions, raising concerns about the incompleteness of the record of appeal and the lack of notice served on the Republic.
Mr. Dame further stated that the Court of Appeal later ordered additional volumes of the record of appeal to be made available to the Republic and granted an application to include three additional documents before the case was eventually adjourned for judgment under a differently constituted panel.
While acknowledging the public criticism that followed Sedina Attionu’s acquittal and discharge, Mr. Dame said such reactions were understandable given the evidence presented during the original trial. He concluded by suggesting that the outcome aligns with what he described as the current Attorney-General’s tendency to discontinue high-profile prosecutions.
By: Bernard Mensah
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