Godfred Yeboah Dame, a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, has refuted allegations that Sedina Tamakloe Attionu’s recent acquittal and release were caused by the Akufo-Addo administration or his office.
Dame accused National Democratic Congress (NDC) communicators and other government agents of spreading a “false and devious narrative” to place the blame on him and the previous administration in a news statement dated July 31, 2026.
Dame claimed that throughout his term, the Office of the Attorney-General never received a notice of any appeal that Sedina Attionu filed in 2024.
In April 2026, state attorneys notified the Court of Appeal that they had not received a notice of appeal and had only learned about the proceedings when the court ordered the parties to submit written arguments.
Even if an appeal had been lodged in 2024, he said, it would have been dormant as the appellant did nothing more until the NDC came back to power.
Therefore, the Republic was not required to take any action in 2024.
Dame underlined that his main duty following the successful prosecution was to make sure Attionu was transferred back to Ghana to fulfil her sentence.
On April 9, 2026, the United States District Court of Nevada granted his request for extradition.
Her extradition was approved by the court, and she was placed under custody until the US Secretary of State could transfer her.
No mention of any pending appeal filed in 2024 was made during the extradition proceedings, which took place between July 2024 and April 2026, even in documents Attionu herself presented to the US court.
Dame claims that Attionu’s attorneys only received permission to submit written arguments on February 10, 2026, and they did so two days later, following his departure from office.
On February 16, 2026, state solicitors received the filings and were taken aback because they were unaware of the appeal.
On April 9, 2026, they requested permission to file opposing submissions.
Later, the Court of Appeal mandated that the Republic have access to three volumes of the Record of Appeal.
On May 28, 2026, an application to add more papers was approved. A different Court of Appeal panel postponed the case until June 17, 2026, in order to render a decision.
During these crucial phases, Dame emphasised that he was no longer Attorney-General.
Given the compelling evidence presented at the initial trial, Dame said the public’s outrage over the acquittal was warranted.
He attributed the result to what he described as the current Attorney-General’s practice of aggressively pursuing opposition persons under the “ORAL” policy while dropping cases against prominent NDC members and associates.
He said that the situation is similar to the Woyome controversy and that it perpetuates the idea that Ghana has two sets of laws: one for political supporters and another for opponents.
Dame urged Ghanaians to demand greater responsibility from the government and the legal system in her closing remarks.
Source: newsthemegh.com