Renowned Ghanaian lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata has stated that he does not hold any personal resentment towards individuals who played a role in his imprisonment during the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He made the remarks at the University of Professional Studies, Accra Law School honourific lecture and awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, held under the theme “Celebrating the Lifetime Achievements of Lawyer Tsatsu Tsikata.”

Reflecting on his past experience, Mr Tsikata indicated that he has deliberately chosen not to allow bitterness to define his outlook.

“By God’s grace, I have never harboured any grudges or felt bitterness against any of those who were involved in all that happened to me during the Kufuor regime,” he said.

He, however, stressed that despite his personal stance, he would not wish such an ordeal on anyone, regardless of political leaning.

“However, I do not wish such a desecration of justice as I experienced on anyone, no matter their political affiliation. I do not want to hear of the police going to a church on Sunday to arrest anyone,” he added.

Mr Tsikata’s comments relate to his imprisonment following a high-profile legal case during the tenure of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, which has remained one of Ghana’s most widely debated judicial and political episodes.

In 2008, he was convicted by an Accra Fast Track High Court for allegedly causing financial loss to the state in connection with a loan guarantee he authorised in the 1990s while serving as Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

He was sentenced to five years in prison, though he later served part of the sentence at Nsawam Medium Security Prison before being granted a presidential pardon in 2009 by the late former President John Evans Atta Mills.

Subsequently, in 2010, the Supreme Court of Ghana quashed his conviction, ruling that the trial had been flawed and amounted to a miscarriage of justice, effectively clearing him of wrongdoing.