No country will grant Sedina Tamakloe citizenship even if she renounces her Ghanaian citizenship – Lawyer

Private legal practitioner, Kofi Bekai, says no country in the world will grant former CEO of MASLOC Sedina Tamakloe citizenship.

The lawyer was responding to a question on whether the former CEO could renounce her citizenship and apply for citizenship in another country.

He explained that she has been jailed in a court of competent jurisdiction for a crime she committed; hence, she cannot renounce her citizenship and apply for a new one in a different country.

Madam Sedina Tamakloe has been sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour.

She was found guilty on 78 counts of causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and causing loss to public property in contravention of public procurement law.

The lawyer speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM stated that she should not even think of that.

“That citizenship she will apply for in the US will not be available to her. She has been charged and sentenced in Ghana. This is not a suspended sentence. Her background would be probed before citizenship would be approved. She should not even apply because her sentencing would come to the attention of the country in which she is applying for citizenship. No country will grant her that request, and so she will not think about it or apply for it.”

He also indicated that the convict can appeal the case, but in her circumstances, she was trialled in absentia since she elected not to participate in the process; hence, on what grounds would she be going for an appeal?

He argued that the former CEO was granted several opportunities to appear, but she elected not to participate, so whatever the outcome, she would have to accept it in good faith.

He said whatever the reason she had, she should have had faith in the court and brought the needed evidence before it.

Background

Madam Sedina Tamakloe and former Chief Operating Officer Daniel Axim have been sentenced to 10 and 5 years in prison with hard labour, respectively.

The two were found guilty on 78 counts of causing financial loss to the state, stealing, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and causing loss to public property in contravention of public procurement law.

Sedina Tamakloe and Daniel Axim have been on trial since 2019.

The offences for which the accused persons have been found guilty border on the misappropriation of monies meant for MASLOc activities between the periods of 2013 and 2016.

The state called six witnesses in all, while the first accused person, Sedina Tamakloe, was tried in absentia as she absconded after obtaining the permission of the court to seek a medical checkup outside the country.

The second accused person, however, testified in person but did not call any witnesses.

The two were found to have withdrawn GHc500,000 as a loan from Obaatampa Savings and Loans Company but demanded a refund of the amount when the financial institution refused to yield a 24% percentage on the matter.

Evidence presented by the state suggested that even though there was evidence of the said refund to the convicts, the same was not reflected in the accounts and books of the complainant institution, MASLOc.

They were also found guilty of misappropriating over 1.7 million Ghana cedis meant for a sensitization exercise. According to the facts of the case, MASLOc was expected to provide 20 Ghana cedis each for 85,300 beneficiaries, amounting to 1.7 million cedis.

However, only 1,300 cedis were spent for the intended purpose, with the rest being misappropriated by the convicts.

Equally, only 579,800 out of 1.4 million cedis was disbursed to the victims of an inferno at Kantamanso, with the two accused persons appropriating the remainder.

The case also involved the purchase of some vehicles for MASLOc, where the monies disbursed for the said purchase were more than the market price of the vehicles at the time, and a similar situation occurred with the purchase of some Samsung phones.

The evidence indicates that the quantities purchased were higher than the current market price, despite being purchased in bulk.

Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah says the government is working hard to ensure that the former MASLOC CEO, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, is extradited to Ghana to serve her 10-year jail term.

He asked Ghanaians to rest assured that she would return home to serve her jail term.

Reacting to the sentencing, Deputy Attorney General Tuah-Yeboah described the decision as commendable.

“Good news, but what is refreshing is that she will be brought down to face the sentence—no problem at all,” he added.

“We have started the process, but with this judgement, it’s going to speed up the process. You know, in Ghana, we have various laws. You can choose to stay away, but so far as we have laws for which you can extract from other countries to Ghana, in case there is a judgement against you like this one, be rest assured that she will be brought down to face judgement,” he stated.