There was no notice of an appeal filed by Sedina Tamakloe Attionu in 2024, which came to the attention of the Office of the Attorney-General; the immediate past Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said.
He said throughout the Sedina Tamakloe Attionu extradition proceedings, which commenced in July, 2024 and concluded in April, 2026, no mention was made of an appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024 against her judgment (not even in the processes filed by Sedina herself in the US District Court).
According to Mr Dame, state attorneys in both oral and written submissions indicated this fact to the Court of Appeal in April 2026 - that they had not been served with a notice of the appeal and that, they became aware of the proceedings only after the Court of Appeal directed the parties to file their written submissions.
In a statement issued on Friday (July 31, 2026) by Mr Dame in reaction to various public commentary following the overturning of Sedina 's conviction and 10-year jail term by the Court of Appeal, he said, "In any event, even if an appeal was filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024, it is completely immaterial, because she took no further step as the accused/appellant until the NDC came back to power. Thus, the Republic had to do nothing in 2024 in terms of the conduct of that appeal."
Attached a full copy of Mr Dame's statement
RE: ACQUITTAL AND DISCHARGE OF SEDINA TAMAKLOE ATTIONU FALSE AND MISLEADING COMMENTS
I have become aware of a false and devious narrative being churned out by communicators of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other agents and hirelings of the Government, in a bid to shift the blame for the acquittal of Madam Sedina Tamakloe Attionu onto the Akufo-Addo Government and principally my good self as the immediate past Attorney-General and Minister for Justice. The relevant record speaks for itself, and, will always vindicate:
1. No notice of an appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024 came to the attention of the Office of Attorney-General in my tenure. State attorneys in both oral and written submissions indicated this fact to the Court of Appeal in April 2026 - that they had not been served with a notice of the appeal and that, they became aware of the proceedings only after the Court of Appeal directed the Parties to file their written submissions.
2. In any event, even if an appeal was filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024, it is completely immaterial because no further step was taken by her as the accused/appellant until the NDC came back to power. Thus, the Republic had to do nothing in 2024 in terms of the conduct of that appeal.
3. What I, as the Attorney-General who had superintended a successful prosecution had to do, was to ensure that the convicted person, Sedina Attionu, was brought to Ghana to serve the sentence lawfully passed by the High Court of Ghana.
I thus took the important step to pursue an extradition request. The competence of my extradition request was upheld in the Order of the United States District Court of Nevada on 9th April, 2026, which confirmed the extradition and committed Ms. Attionu to custody pending her extradition by the Secretary of State.
4. Throughout the Sedina extradition proceedings, which commenced in July, 2024 and concluded in April, 2026, no mention was made of an 1 appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024 against her judgment (not even in the processes filed by Sedina herself in the US District Court).
5. Lawyers for Sedina Attionu only obtained leave from the Court of Appeal to file written submissions on 10th February 2026 and proceeded to file the said written submissions on 12th February, 2026. At this time, I was not in office as the Attorney-General.
6. My understanding is that the prosecuting state attorneys were surprised when they were served with the written submissions of the accused/appellant on 16th February, 2026 because they had no prior notice of the pendency of any proceedings. Nonetheless, they put together written submissions in opposition to the appeal and applied for leave from the Court of Appeal to file same, which they did on on 9th April, 2026.
7. In their written submissions, the Principal State Attorney repeated her complaints about an incomplete record of appeal, an omission from the record of all the exhibits tendered by the Prosecution at the trial and the fact that they “became aware of the instant proceeding ... after the Court had directed the Parties to file their written submissions”.
8. The Court of Appeal presided over by Her Ladyship Mensah Datsa JA, proceeded to enquire into the fundamental matters raised by the state attorneys which affected the Court’s jurisdiction to determine Ms. Attionu’s appeal, by ordering that 3 volumes of the Record of Appeal, which the Republic did not have access to at the time it filed its written submissions, be given to the Republic. This was done. The matter was adjourned.
9. After a perusal, the Republic applied for an inclusion into the record of appeal of three documents. This application was granted on 28th May, 2026 and the matter was adjourned to 17th June, 2026. In all of this, I was not the Attorney-General.
10. On 17th June, 2026, a different panel of the Court of Appeal presided over by Ankamah JA, sat on the matter for the first time and adjourned for judgment.
11. The public opprobrium and rejection of the acquittal and discharge of Sedina Tamakloe Attionu are merited considering the cogent evidence led at the trial, which enjoyed massive media coverage, and was thus easy for all to appreciate.
12. The development is consistent with the predilection of the Attorney-General to discontinue all cases which were being prosecuted against leading members and affiliates of the NDC. It smacks of an orchestration to clear the lady of her felonious acts and highlights the growing perception of Ghana’s current justice system - two sets of law for two sets of people. Equality before the law exists only in theory and is not lived practically. The Sedina Scandal is the closest Ghana has been to a re-enactment of the Woyome Scandal.
13. Ghanaians ought to demand more from a government which set out after inauguration, to discontinue all criminal cases pending against its leading members only to launch, immediately thereafter, a policy of ORAL by which it aggressively parades leading members of the opposition in court on alleged corruption related offences in trials conducted under extremely difficult conditions. The Attorney-General in these circumstances must be held to very high standards in the prosecution of cases.
14. A justice system in which political friends face no accountability and time-honoured rules are compromised for their comfort whilst political opponents are treated like second-class citizens and struggle for their basic rights and freedoms to be respected in criminal trials reflects poorly on the State. God bless us all.
SGD GODFRED YEBOAH DAME
