The Court of Appeal has struck out the Attorney-General’s application seeking a stay of execution of its decision acquitting and discharging former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer, Sedina Christine Tamakloe-Attionu.
A three-member panel decided on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, after the State withdrew its application before the court could determine its merits.
Principal State Attorney Hilda Craig told the court that the Republic no longer wished to pursue the application.
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“The Republic, applicant herein, wishes to withdraw the application filed on July 30. We filed the notice of withdrawal on August 10, 2026,” she told the court.
Counsel for Ms Tamakloe-Attionu, Sidney Antonio, did not oppose the withdrawal of the stay of execution but argued that the State ought to have sought leave of the court before withdrawing the application.
The panel, presided over by Justice Sophia Rosetta Benasko Essah, subsequently struck out the application as withdrawn.
Justice Benasko Essah explained that the panel had received a warrant from the Chief Justice to sit and deliver its ruling on the application, which had initially been scheduled for determination.
The latest development follows a dramatic turn in the long-running criminal case involving Ms Tamakloe-Attionu, who served as MASLOC CEO between 2013 and 2016.
She was prosecuted alongside former MASLOC Chief Operating Officer Daniel Axim over alleged financial misconduct.
The charges included stealing, conspiracy to steal, causing financial loss to the state, conspiracy to cause financial loss to the state, money laundering and breaches of the Public Procurement Act.
Ms Tamakloe-Attionu was tried in absentia after travelling to the United States for medical treatment and failing to return to Ghana to continue the proceedings.
On April 16, 2024, the High Court convicted her and sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment with hard labour. Axim was sentenced to five years.
Ms Tamakloe-Attionu remained outside Ghana while the conviction was in force.
In January 2026, Ms Tamakloe-Attionu was arrested in Nevada following an extradition request from the Ghanaian authorities.
A United States magistrate judge subsequently certified her extradition, paving the way for her surrender to Ghana.
She arrived in Ghana on June 9, 2026, and was taken into custody. She was subsequently reported to have begun serving her 10-year sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Female Prison.
However, her legal position changed dramatically when the Court of Appeal heard her challenge against the High Court conviction.
On July 30, 2026, a three-member Court of Appeal panel unanimously overturned the conviction and sentence, acquitting and discharging Ms Tamakloe-Attionu.
The appellate court held that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges against her beyond reasonable doubt and consequently quashed the conviction.
Following the acquittal, the Attorney-General indicated that the State intended to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision before the Supreme Court.
The AG subsequently filed an application seeking a stay of execution of the acquittal pending the intended appeal.
The State argued that allowing the acquittal to take immediate effect could create circumstances that might frustrate the intended Supreme Court proceedings, including the possibility of Ms Tamakloe-Attionu leaving the jurisdiction.
However, the Republic has now withdrawn that application.
The Court of Appeal therefore did not consider the substantive arguments surrounding the stay request and instead struck out the application as withdrawn.
What happens next?
The withdrawal of the stay of execution application does not, by itself, amount to an abandonment of the State’s intended challenge to the substantive acquittal.
For now, the Court of Appeal’s July 30 decision acquitting and discharging Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu remains in effect.
The State’s next steps regarding any intended appeal to the Supreme Court could therefore determine the next major chapter in the high-profile MASLOC case.