Legal Counsel for the Minority Caucus, John Darko, has questioned the circumstances surrounding the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, arguing that the ruling could undermine Ghana’s fight against corruption.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday, July 30, overturned Madam Tamakloe-Attionu’s earlier conviction and 10-year prison sentence after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove its case against her.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse, Mr Darko expressed concern about the fact that Madam Tamakloe-Attionu did not remain in Ghana to participate in the initial trial but later returned to challenge the conviction.

He questioned the timing of the appeal process, saying he was yet to understand when the notice of appeal was filed.

“If you look at the fact that when this woman was standing trial, she had all the opportunity to contest all the issues that they are raising now, but she chose to skip court, skip the country, and now almost four or five years after judgment, she's here asking for the court's reverse decision of the lower court.”

Mr Darko said he would want clarity on when the notice of appeal was filed, given the time that had elapsed since the original judgment.

• Read also: Court of Appeal acquits, discharges ex-MASLOC CEO Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu

“I'm yet to see when she filed this so-called notice of appeal because we filed a notice of appeal after four or five years, obviously it will be out of time. So it would be interesting to see when even the notice of appeal was filed for the courts to assume jurisdiction to hear this matter.”

The Suame MP said the ruling had left him concerned about Ghana’s efforts to deter corruption, arguing that public officials must not feel protected from accountability.

“I'm a bit concerned. I'm not happy because it looks like as a country, you take a step forward in fighting corruption and then you take three steps back.”

He warned that if public officials believe corruption-related cases could be reversed based on changes in government, it could weaken the fight against graft.

“If public officials can engage in corrupt activity and expect that whenever their government comes to power, all their wrongdoings will be whitewashed, then nobody will be deterred from engaging in corruption.”

Mr Darko also criticised what he described as selective prosecution by the government, alleging that some corruption cases involving political allies are treated differently from those involving opponents.

“This is a government that claims that it's going to fight against corruption. All the people who were standing trial under the previous government, when they came, what did they do?

"They entered nolle prosequi and took all of them off the hook and then sent the attention of prosecuting the former government officer.”

He further accused the government of using anti-corruption efforts to target political opponents while shielding its own members.

“Clearly it tells you that this is a government that is interested in fighting corruption. This is a government that's interested in prosecuting its political opponents. And when it comes to those who are associated with their political party, they protect them. They don't want them to go to jail.”