Godfred Dame rejects blame over Sedina Attionu appeal as political row deepens
Godfred Dame says his office was never notified of Sedina Tamakloe Attionu's 2024 appeal, insisting the extradition process continued without any indication that a conviction challenge was pending.
Ghana's former Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has rejected claims that his office mishandled the appeal process in the case of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) chief executive Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, after a court overturned her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.
In a statement issued on Friday, Mr Dame said the Office of the Attorney-General was never served with a notice of appeal filed by Ms Attionu in 2024 and only became aware of the proceedings much later when the Court of Appeal directed both parties to submit written arguments.
The former attorney-general was responding to criticism that the previous Akufo-Addo administration failed to properly defend the case, contributing to the Court of Appeal's decision to acquit and discharge Ms Attionu.
"There was no notice of an appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024 which came to the attention of the Office of the Attorney-General," Mr Dame said.
He maintained that throughout extradition proceedings in the United States, which ran from July 2024 to April 2026, neither Ms Attionu nor her lawyers disclosed that an appeal against her conviction was pending.
"Not even in the processes filed by Sedina herself in the US District Court was any mention made of an appeal," he said.
Mr Dame argued that even if an appeal had been lodged in 2024, it would have made little practical difference because, according to him, Ms Attionu did not take any further procedural steps until after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) returned to power in 2025.
He said the Republic therefore had "nothing to do" in relation to the appeal during his tenure.
Instead, Mr Dame said his focus had been on securing Ms Attionu's return to Ghana to serve the sentence imposed by the High Court.
He pointed to a ruling by a United States District Court in Nevada in April 2026, which upheld Ghana's extradition request and ordered that Ms Attionu be committed to custody pending a decision by the US Secretary of State.
According to Mr Dame, state attorneys only received Ms Attionu's written submissions in February 2026 and subsequently filed their own response after obtaining leave from the Court of Appeal.
He also said prosecutors raised concerns over what they described as an incomplete record of appeal and the absence of several prosecution exhibits from the court documents.
The former attorney-general further criticised the Court of Appeal's decision to overturn the conviction, saying the acquittal had generated widespread public concern because of what he described as the strength of the evidence presented during the original trial.
In strongly worded remarks, Mr Dame accused the current administration of applying different standards in corruption prosecutions, alleging that criminal cases involving leading members of the governing NDC had been discontinued while opposition figures continued to face prosecution.
The government has not publicly responded to Mr Dame's latest allegations.
The Court of Appeal's decision to acquit Ms Attionu has become one of Ghana's most politically contentious legal cases, with both the governing NDC and the opposition New Patriotic Party trading accusations over the handling of the prosecution and appeal.
Related article: Why the Court of Appeal overturned all 78 convictions against Sedina Tamakloe