While Mr Ken Ofori-Atta battles immigration detention in the United States, Mrs Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, a former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer, is confronting a more direct legal threat following her arrest in Texas by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Unlike Mr Ofori-Atta’s case, Mrs Attionu-Tamakloe’s arrest is directly linked to an extradition request submitted by the Government of Ghana after her conviction in a criminal trial several years ago.
Sources say she has been arraigned before a U.S. court to determine the admissibility and suitability of her extradition to Ghana, where she is expected to serve a custodial sentence imposed for corruption and financial loss-related offences committed during her tenure at MASLOC.
Mrs Attionu-Tamakloe has consistently disputed the charges and her conviction, maintaining that she was unfairly targeted. Nonetheless, Ghanaian authorities have persisted in efforts to secure her return, leading to her current detention.
Investigations reveal that since the arrests of both Mrs Attionu-Tamakloe and Mr Ofori-Atta, U.S. government officials have been engaging Ghana’s Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine, and officials of Ghana’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., as part of ongoing coordination on extradition and immigration matters.
Legal observers note that Mrs Attionu-Tamakloe’s case appears procedurally more straightforward, given that she has already been convicted and sentenced by a Ghanaian court, while Mr Ofori-Atta’s matter remains complicated by pending immigration relief and asylum-related arguments reportedly being explored by his legal team.
Meanwhile, Mr Ofori-Atta continues to be tried in absentia by the Office of the Special Prosecutor over the SML revenue assurance contracts and other alleged abuses during his tenure at the Ministry of Finance.
Together, the detentions of Ofori-Atta and Sedina Attionu-Tamakloe have reignited public debate over corruption, elite impunity and the growing willingness of international partners to cooperate with Ghana in pursuing high-profile suspects beyond its borders.
