Gary Nimako questions Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit Sedina Tamakloe

The Legal Affairs Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, says the recent Court of Appeal decision acquitting former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, has strengthened his confidence that Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will also succeed in overturning his conviction on appeal. Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 1, Mr Nimako argued that a careful reading of both judgments suggested significant similarities in the legal issues raised, insisting that the appellate court’s reasoning in the Sedina case provided grounds for optimism regarding Chairman Wontumi’s appeal. “This judgment, as it stands, gives me hope in Wontumi’s appeal.

Yes, because if you read Wontumi’s judgment at the High Court, and the manner in which the conviction took place, and you juxtapose that judgment vis-a-vis this particular judgment, then clearly, I can tell the people that look, Wontumi will succeed in an appeal, if you take this judgment into consideration,” he stated. His comments come days after the Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and 10-year prison sentence imposed on Ms Tamakloe-Attionu by the High Court in a case involving alleged financial irregularities during her tenure as MASLOC Chief Executive. The appellate court’s decision effectively discharged and acquitted the former MASLOC boss after allowing her appeal against both the conviction and sentence.

Mr Nimako contended that the legal reasoning adopted by the Court of Appeal in the Sedina case could equally prove persuasive in the appeal filed by Chairman Wontumi, who is challenging a 20-year custodial sentence imposed by the High Court over offences linked to illegal mining activities. He believes there are common grounds to both cases. The NPP legal chief maintained that the Court of Appeal’s latest decision had reinforced his conviction that the High Court’s judgment against Chairman Wontumi would not stand.

Chairman Wontumi has already filed an appeal seeking to overturn both his conviction and sentence, arguing that the High Court erred in its findings. The Court of Appeal is expected to determine whether the trial court properly applied the law and assessed the evidence before reaching its verdict. The Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, has expressed mixed views about the Court of Appeal’s decision to acquit and discharge former MASLOC Chief Executive Officer Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, saying he agrees with some aspects of the judgment but believes the court imposed an excessively high burden of proof on the prosecution.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 1, Mr Nimako Marfo said he had read the judgment in its entirety and concluded that while parts of the court’s reasoning were sound, other aspects overstretched the legal threshold required of prosecutors in criminal cases. He argued that the decision effectively required the prosecution to prove its case “without a shadow of doubt,” a standard he believes goes beyond what the law requires. “I have read the judgment in its entirety.

There are portions of the judgment I tend to agree with the Court of Appeal. There are portions where I think it was an overreach because it tends to place a very high burden on prosecutors to prove an accused person’s guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that I have a problem with. Overturning the conviction and the sentencing, I thought maybe they could have asked for a retrial at the High Court,” he said.