Supreme Court Grants Bail to MASLOC Co-Convict Daniel Axim in MASLOC Case

The Supreme Court has granted bail of GH¢500,000 with two sureties to former Head of Operations at the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Daniel Axim, who was convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, pending his appeal. Daniel Axim was tried alongside former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MASLOC, Sedina Tamakloe Attionu, who was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 10 years. The trained pharmacist is currently detained in America following her arrest there at the request of the Ghanaian government, to be deported for her imprisonment. Unhappy with his imprisonment, in April 2024, the former Head of Operations at MASLOC, through his lawyers led by Augustines Obour, lodged an appeal against the conviction and the sentence. However, the appeal, initiated over a year ago, has stalled, leading his lawyers to file an application for bail pending appeal, having already served nearly two calendar years of his five-year incarceration. On Wednesday, 14 January 2026, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Amadu Tanko, granted him bail in the amount of GH¢500,000. In addition to the bail amount, he is required to provide two sureties, one of whom must be justified with landed property. Extradition of former MASLOC boss may take years if she decides to litigate it – Lawyer He is also to report to the registrar of the Supreme Court. The security for bail should be a landed property valued at the bail sum and verified by a land surveyor. The court ordered that his passport be deposited with the court registrar and that he report to the registrar every two weeks. The registrar is to keep records of his reporting times to the court and issue a certificate if he fails to report for three successive weeks. Additionally, the Apex Court panel, which included Justice Samuel Asiedu, Justice Senyo Dzamefe, Justice Philip Bright Mensah, and Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo, directed the registrar of the High Court to transmit the records to the Registrar of the Court of Appeal within a month after the order. The bail application, moved by Lawyer Augustines Obour, was opposed by Hilda Craig, a Principal State Attorney, who was led by Winifred Sarpong, a Chief State Attorney. On April 16, 2024, the two were found guilty by the Financial and Economic Division of the High Court, presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe, a Justice of the Court of Appeal. The High Court convicted the former CEO of MASLOC to a 10-year jail term for a financial loss of GH¢90 million to the state. The 78 counts include conspiracy to steal, stealing, causing financial loss to the State, causing loss to public property, improper payment of public funds, unauthorized commitment resulting in financial obligation for the government, money laundering, and contravention of the Public Procurement Act. Daniel Axim, who was handed a five-year jail term for raising memos 23 times, under the direction of Mrs Tamakloe-Attionu, for the collection of funds which were not used for the projects for which they were released. For instance, the two could not account for GH¢1,706,000, which was meant for a sensitization and monitoring programme for 85,300 MASLOC loan beneficiaries, and GH¢1,465,035 for victims of the Kantamanto Market disaster. Prior to the trial in absentia, the court, on January 24, 2023, ordered the former CEO of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Alex Mould, and actor Gavivina Tamakloe to pay the GH¢5 million bail bond to the state for their failure to produce the accused person, for whom they stood as sureties. Tamakloe-Attionu’s arrest and detention in the US followed an extradition request in July 2024, after she was tried in absentia and jailed for 10 years for causing financial loss to the state. Her detention has been confirmed by the Ghana Embassy in Washington, United States, in a statement issued last Thursday and signed by Ghana’s envoy to the US, Victor Emmanuel Smith. “I can, today, confirm that Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu is being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Centre, 2190 East Mesquite Avenue, Pahrump, Nevada. My information is that she was detained by US Marshals on January 6 and has since been kept at that detention centre." “I am reliably informed that acting on an extradition request sent to the US Authorities sometime in July 2024, US Marshals arrested Tamakloe-Attionu and placed her in detention to await her day in court,” the embassy’s statement said. Lawyer and Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Bobby Banson, stated that he would be surprised if the former MASLOC Chief Executive is granted bail should she be extradited to Ghana and taken into custody. On JoyNews Newsfile on January 17, Banson noted that, given the gravity of the offences and the fact that Ms Tamakloe-Attionu was tried and convicted in absentia, the courts are unlikely to exercise discretion in her favour. “Considering the circumstances of the case and her conduct during the trial, I will be very surprised if she is granted bail when she arrives,” he stated. He explained that Tamakloe-Attionu’s decision to leave the country while standing trial, after being granted permission for medical treatment abroad, weighs heavily against any future bail application. According to him, the courts will prioritize ensuring that the sentence imposed is duly served. Tamakloe-Attionu was sentenced to hard labour after being found guilty of 78 counts, including causing financial loss to the state, theft, conspiracy to steal, money laundering, and breaches of public procurement laws.