The Interior Ministry has a denied claims of delay in imprisonment of former Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) Chief Executive Officer Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu following her extradition to Ghana.

Her arrival was confirmed by the government on June 9.

However, the Minority argued that Sedinam wasn’t detained to begin ger sentence right when she touched down but began serving her sentence on June 24 citing it was delayed by 15 days which they insisted was a contempt of court.

Responding to the allegations, the Press Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Julius Kwame Anthony, has dismissed the claims that she received special treatment following her extradition to Ghana, insisting that she has remained in the custody of the Ghana Prisons Service since her arrival.

He also shot down allegations that she had never been held in a private facility or left outside the control of prison authorities, contrary to allegations made by some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Mr. Anthony said the responsibility for enforcing prison sentences rests with the Ghana Prisons Service once a person has been convicted by a competent court.

“Sedina Tamakloe has been in the possession of the Ghana Prison Service from the moment she landed in Ghana,” he said during an interview on News Digest on Citi FM on Saturday, June 27.

He added that “I have heard the opposition New Patriotic Party make claims about her being left to herself or being on her own private expeditions or whatever. No such claim can be substantiated.

“Sedina Tamakloe has never been at any private facility whatsoever since she landed in Ghana. She has never been at any private facility, and for that, I would say that you can subject me to any scrutiny whatsoever.”

According to him, government wouldn’t have arranged her extradition tirelessly from the USA if it was only for her to arrived and move freely in Ghana in the first place.

“If the National Democratic Congress that has formed the government of the Republic of Ghana were interested in letting Madam Sedina Tamakloe be free from the liabilities of her conviction, the easier option would have been to allow her to stay in the United States. But we pursued her coming back to Ghana. Why would we pursue her coming back to Ghana if we do not want her to serve the term?” he asked.

He maintained that the government is complying with the court’s judgment and that the legal process would continue in accordance with the law while any appeal pursued by the former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer is determined by the courts.

Earlier reports by Manasseh Azure

A report by Joy News, which sourced award-winning Ghanaian journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Manasseh Azure Awuni, indicated that former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, had begun serving her 10-year jail term.

Even though she was not sent to jail the day she touched down due to a pre-existing medical condition, which was confirmed by the US authorities before she was extradited, the report confirms that she has started serving her sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison after spending several days receiving medical treatment at the Police Hospital in Accra.

According to the publication shared on the website of the Pledge Against Corruption (PAC), it noted that, following her arrival at Accra International Airport on June 9, she was left in the hands of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) and later transferred to the Ghana Prisons Service.

According to the sources, she was admitted to the Police Hospital, where she received treatment for several days.

However, the exact duration of her stay at the facility could not be independently confirmed.

After undergoing treatment, the Police Hospital reportedly declared her medically fit to begin serving her sentence. She was subsequently given medication and transferred to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison to commence her 10-year jail term.

Currently, she is being held in the female side of the Nsawam with limited visitors' permission aside from her family members.

The report also claims that while under medical supervision, she remained under the watch of prison authorities and was not allowed to seek treatment elsewhere, like from a private health facility.