For years, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu was the face of economic empowerment in Ghana, leading an agency designed to lift the nation’s poorest entrepreneurs out of poverty.
Today, she sits in a detention facility in the United States after years of evading local Ghanaian authorities, after being convicted in absentia for embezzlement.
For the government in Accra, her detention is a hard-won victory for local authorities. For her hidden supporters, it is a bitter chapter for a woman once central to the country’s microfinance ambitions.
Before she became the center of an international extradition battle, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu was widely regarded as a trailblazing entrepreneur and a rising star in Ghanaian politics. Her journey from a pharmacist to a high-ranking government official is a story of rapid professional ascent followed by a dramatic fall from grace.
An Entrepreneurial Pioneer
Long before her entry into public service, Ms. Tamakloe made her mark in the private sector. A pharmacist by training, she is best known for founding The Pillbox in 1999, which became the first retail pharmacy chain in Ghana.
At a time when the country’s pharmaceutical landscape was dominated by small “mom-and-pop” shops, she revolutionized the industry by introducing a modern, spacious, and customer-centric retail model.
Her success was so notable that she was featured as a case study in Ghanaian business textbooks, such as Kueynehia on Entrepreneurship, as a model for “opportunistic entrepreneurship.”
Political Ascent
Her business acumen eventually caught the eye of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). As a leading member of the party, she transitioned into governance, serving in various capacities before being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of MASLOC (Micro and Small Loans Centre) in October 2013 by then and current President John Dramani Mahama.
Her appointment was initially seen as a strategic move: putting a successful entrepreneur in charge of an agency meant to foster entrepreneurship through micro-loans.
However, her tenure, which lasted until January 2017, would later become the subject of intense scrutiny following a change in government.
The Charges and Allegations
The downfall began shortly after the 2016 elections. Investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) alleged that Ms. Tamakloe had overseen a system of widespread financial mismanagement.
According to investigations, Ms. Tamakloe allegedly received a cash refund of GH¢500,000 from a microfinance company in a gas station parking lot and failed to repay it into MASLOC accounts.
Investigators also claimed she failed to account for over GH¢1.4 million intended to support victims of the Kantamanto Market fire.
There were also claims of inflated procurement contracts, whereby vehicles and equipment (such as Samsung phones and water tankers) were overpaid for and were never fully accounted for.
In 2021, while the trial was ongoing, Ms. Tamakloe was granted permission by the court to travel to the United States for medical reasons. But she never returned.
Her absence turned her into a fugitive in the eyes of the Ghanaian state, leading to a trial in absentia that concluded in April 2024.
On The Run
In April 2024, a Ghanaian High Court found Ms. Tamakloe and the agency’s former head of operations, Daniel Axim, guilty on 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, money laundering, and Conspiracy to commit a crime.
In all, the court determined that she had misappropriated over GH¢90 million and sentenced her to 10 years in prison with hard labour.
For years, her whereabouts remained a subject of speculation until Ghanaian authorities, led by Deputy Attorney-General Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, confirmed she had been located in America.
The legal battle took a sharp turn in late 2024 and throughout 2025 as Ghana intensified its extradition efforts.
On January 16, 2026, authorities announced a breakthrough in the case. The Ghana Embassy, through a press release, announced that US authorities had detained Ms Tamakloe and she was being held in a detention facility in the state of Nevada.
Possible Extradition and What Comes Next
If (or when) extradited, Ms. Tamakloe is expected to be handed over to the Ghana Prisons Service to begin serving her decade-long sentence.
Reports say she is scheduled to appear before a US judge on January 21 to determine whether she will be extradited to Ghana.
Legal experts suggest her lawyers may attempt to appeal the conviction once she is back on Ghanaian soil, arguing that the trial in absentia infringed on her rights.
Her arrest comes at a time when state officials are also looking to extradite the country’s former finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, who also fled to the US.
Mr. Ofori Atta was recently detained by US authorities for overstaying his visa and is currently fighting extradition.
As the country waits for the eventual but disgraceful homecoming of the former MASLOC CEO, the current administration will chalk this as a win in its fight against corrupt officials.
