In a stunning legal turnaround, the Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre, Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, overturning her conviction and 10-year prison sentence.

The unanimous ruling was delivered on Thursday, July 30, 2026, by a three-member panel comprising Justices Emmanuel Ankamah, Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe and Samuel Obeng-Diawuo. The judges concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the former MASLOC boss beyond reasonable doubt.

The appellate court reportedly criticised the handling of the case at the High Court, stressing that the constitutional principle of presuming an accused person innocent until proven guilty had not been properly applied. It also found that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not meet the legal standard required to sustain the convictions.

Tamakloe-Attionu was convicted by an Accra High Court in April 2024 on multiple charges connected to her tenure at MASLOC, including stealing, causing financial loss to the state, money laundering and procurement-related offences.

The prosecution accused her of misusing public funds through several MASLOC programmes, including loan transactions, public sensitisation activities, relief assistance and the procurement of vehicles and mobile phones. She challenged both the conviction and the decision to continue the trial in her absence.

After being extradited from the United States, Tamakloe-Attionu returned to Ghana on June 9, 2026. She subsequently began serving the 10-year sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Female Prison on June 24.

The Court of Appeal has now set aside all the convictions, bringing a dramatic end to the prison sentence imposed by the High Court. The court’s full reasoning is contained in a 94-page judgment.

The landmark decision represents a major legal victory for the former MASLOC chief and adds another dramatic chapter to one of Ghana’s most closely followed public-sector criminal cases.