Former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame has strongly rejected attempts to hold him or the previous Akufo-Addo administration responsible for the acquittal of former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, describing claims by government communicators as "false and devious".

In a statement issued on Friday, Mr Dame accused communicators of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), as well as what he described as "agents and hirelings of the Government", of deliberately seeking to shift responsibility for the Court of Appeal's decision onto the former administration.

He maintained that the official record clearly demonstrates that neither he nor the Office of the Attorney-General under his tenure failed in handling the appeal process.

Mr Dame stated that throughout his tenure as Attorney-General, the Office of the Attorney-General was never served with any notice of appeal allegedly filed by Madam Attionu in 2024.

According to him, state attorneys informed the Court of Appeal in both oral and written submissions in April 2026 that they had only become aware of the appeal after the court directed both parties to file written submissions.

"No notice of an appeal filed by Sedina Attionu in 2024 came to the attention of the Office of Attorney-General in my tenure," he said.

He further argued that even if such an appeal had indeed been filed in 2024, it remained inconsequential because no further action was taken by the appellant until after the National Democratic Congress returned to office.

"As such, the Republic had no action to take in 2024 regarding the appeal," he maintained.

The former Attorney-General also defended his handling of the criminal case after securing Madam Attionu's conviction, insisting that his office pursued every legal avenue to ensure she returned to Ghana to serve her sentence.

He disclosed that extradition proceedings initiated by his office culminated in a ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on April 9, which upheld the extradition request and ordered that Madam Attionu remain in custody pending the approval of the United States Secretary of State.

Mr Dame noted that throughout the extradition proceedings, which spanned from July 2024 to April 2026, there was no indication that an appeal had been filed in Ghana.

"At no stage during the extradition proceedings was any appeal filed in 2024 mentioned, including in documents submitted by Sedina Attionu herself before the U.S. District Court," he stated.

Mr Dame explained that lawyers for Madam Attionu obtained leave from the Court of Appeal on February 10, 2026 to file their written submissions and subsequently filed them on February 12, 2026.

He emphasised that by that time, he was no longer serving as Attorney-General.

According to his account, prosecuting state attorneys were surprised when they received the appellant's written submissions on February 16, 2026, having never previously been notified of the appeal.

The prosecution later filed its own submissions opposing the appeal and sought leave from the court to submit them out of time on April 9.

Mr Dame said the prosecution's submissions highlighted several procedural concerns, including what it described as an incomplete record of appeal, omitted prosecution exhibits and the late notification of the appeal proceedings.

The former Attorney-General further explained that the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Mensah Datsa, directed that three volumes of the Record of Appeal be provided to the Republic because they had not previously been made available.

Following a review of those records, the Republic successfully applied on May 28 to include three additional documents in the appeal record before the matter was adjourned to June 17.

Mr Dame stressed that these proceedings all occurred after he had left office.

On June 17, a differently constituted panel of the Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice Ankamah, heard the appeal and reserved judgment, which eventually resulted in Madam Attionu's acquittal.

Beyond defending his own record, Mr Dame criticised the current government's handling of criminal prosecutions, arguing that the acquittal has generated understandable public concern given the evidence presented during the original trial.

He suggested that the outcome reflected what he described as a broader trend by the current Attorney-General to discontinue criminal cases involving leading members and affiliates of the National Democratic Congress.

Mr Dame compared the handling of the Sedina Attionu case to the long-running Alfred Agbesi Woyome saga, arguing that the justice system must apply the law equally regardless of political affiliation.

He further questioned what he described as an apparent contradiction between the government's decision to discontinue cases involving some of its own members while simultaneously pursuing the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative and prosecuting individuals associated with the opposition.

The former Attorney-General urged Ghanaians to demand greater accountability in the administration of justice, insisting that prosecutorial decisions must be guided by the law rather than political considerations.

He argued that public confidence in the justice system would be undermined if political allies were perceived to receive favourable treatment while opponents faced more aggressive prosecution.

"A justice system where political allies avoid accountability while political opponents face unequal treatment undermines confidence in the rule of law and reflects poorly on the State," he said.