The Member of Parliament for Lambussie, Prof Titus Beyuo, has said ongoing efforts to secure the arrest and extradition of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and former Chief Executive Officer of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, should serve as a strong lesson to public officials about personal accountability.
According to him, the developments signal a shift from merely punishing governments at the ballot box to holding individuals responsible for decisions they take while in office.
His comments come in the wake of the detention of the two former public officials by United States authorities. Ken Ofori-Atta was picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 6 in Virginia. The Attorney General has explained that his visa was revoked in connection with ongoing investigations and that the action was not a routine immigration matter.
Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu, on the other hand, is currently being held at the Southern Nevada Detention Center in the United States, following an extradition request sent to U.S. authorities in July 2024.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, January 17, 2026, Prof Beyuo said the processes being pursued against the two former officials reflect the growing demand by Ghanaians to see concrete action under the ORAL initiative, which was a key campaign promise ahead of the last election.
“We do know that the people of Ghana are angry and expectant of some effort and results in ORAL. It was one of the pillars on which we won this election. If we claimed so and it is so, they want to see evidence or see people punished,” he said.
Prof Beyuo noted that while the defeat of the New Patriotic Party in the last election demonstrated collective accountability, democracy would only be strengthened if individuals were also held personally liable for their actions.
“The defeat of the NPP in the last election is a lesson to young politicians that you will be held accountable collectively at the ballot box during elections. But the next step is that people must be held individually responsible for the decisions they took, and that is the next step. If we fail, then there is no hope in this democracy,” he stated.
“What it means is that when we are angry, we go and change the government, and when the next one comes, they come and do worse. How many times would we do that?” he asked.
According to Prof Beyuo, the current efforts involving Ken Ofori-Atta and Sedina Tamakloe-Attionu should send a clear signal to current and future appointees that they cannot hide behind political transitions to evade responsibility.
“But if appointees realise that individually they will be held accountable, they will be careful,” he added.
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