Dominic Ayine (L) and Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu (R)
A former Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, has criticised the Minister of Justice and Attorney General Dominic Ayine over what she described as his lackluster attitude toward the fight against corruption in the country.
According to Fatimatu, the Attorney General appears to be more interested in public relations activities than fulfilling his core mandate of prosecuting corruption-related cases.
She argued that instead of focusing on taking alleged corrupt officials to court to face charges for causing financial loss to the state, the Attorney General prefers to prosecute people in the media.
Fatimatu reminded him to take swift action to ensure the extradition of the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, who was sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour but fled the country before serving her sentence.
“When President Mahama appointed him, I think he was asked to help with public relations work rather than becoming the Attorney General. He has been holding press conferences accusing people of being criminals without going to court to do the right thing,” she said.
Fatima was contributing to a panel discussion on Wontumi TV on November 1, 2025, Fatimatu stated that the Attorney General had failed to pursue extradition processes for Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu.
“Sedina is a convicted criminal. If she were in Ghana, she would have started serving her sentence. But he won’t go and look for extradition to bring her back to serve her jail term…the kind of bail conditions they are granting now are also too lenient. When we were in government, our bail conditions were a bit stricter,” she added.
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu was found guilty on 78 counts relating to causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering and violating public procurement laws.
The trial, which began in 2019, saw six witnesses called by the state.
She was tried in absentia after absconding from the country under the pretext of seeking medical attention abroad. Her co-accused, Daniel Axim, testified in person but did not call any witnesses.
MASLOC case: Sedina Tamakloe sentenced to 10 years in prison
The convictions stemmed from the misappropriation of funds allocated for MASLOC activities between 2013 and 2016. In one instance, the convicts withdrew GH₵500,000 as a loan from Obaatampa Savings and Loans Company but demanded a refund when the institution refused to offer a 24% interest rate. Although evidence of the refund was presented, it was not reflected in MASLOC’s accounts.
Sedina and her accomplice were also found guilty of misappropriating over GH₵1.7 million allocated for a sensitization exercise, with only a fraction of the funds used for the intended purpose.
Similarly, funds meant for victims of a fire disaster at Kantamanso were not fully distributed, with a significant portion diverted by the accused.
The case further revealed inflated costs in the purchase of vehicles and Samsung phones for MASLOC. Evidence suggested that, despite bulk purchases, the amounts paid exceeded prevailing market prices at the time.
AM/SSM
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