The Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, has expressed mixed views about the Court of Appeal's decision to acquit and discharge former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, saying he agrees with some aspects of the judgment but believes the court imposed an excessively high burden of proof on the prosecution.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 1, Mr Nimako Marfo said he had read the judgment in its entirety and concluded that while parts of the court's reasoning were sound, other aspects overstretched the legal threshold required of prosecutors in criminal cases.

He argued that the decision effectively required the prosecution to prove its case "without a shadow of doubt," a standard he believes goes beyond what the law requires.

“I have read the judgment in its entirety. There are portions of the judgment I tend to agree with the Court of Appeal. There are portions where I think it was an overreach because it tends to place a very high burden on prosecutors to prove an accused person's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that I have a problem with. Overturning the conviction and the sentencing, I thought maybe they could have asked for a retrial at the High Court,” he said.

His comments follow Thursday's Court of Appeal ruling, which overturned the High Court's conviction and 10-year prison sentence imposed on Madam Tamakloe-Attionu over offences relating to the management of MASLOC funds.

Following the judgment, the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, announced that the state would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.