President Akufo-Addo has written to global media giant Aljazeera to retract and apologise for what he has described as an inaccurate and unfair documentary on him and the government of Ghana.
The President, through his secretary Nana BediatuiAsante os demanding an immediate retraction and apology over the media firm’s recent documentary on gold smuggling, which the President noted contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against him.
Alistair Mathias, a gold trader exposed in Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia investigative documentary, claimed that President Akufo-Addo is his friend and lawyer.
In the documentary, he is described as a financial architect who creates money laundering schemes for corrupt politicians.
Speaking to undercover reporters while attempting to reach an agreement, he claimed that Ghana’s president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is his friend and also his lawyer.
But the President has denied it saying ”The documentary in question made baseless claims that the President acted as a lawyer for one Mr. Alistair Mathias and implied that the President personally benefitted unlawfuly from an alleged $100m state infrastructure contract purportedly awarded to Mr. Mathias. In his letter dated 11h April, 2023, responding to Al Jazeera’s letter of 2nd April, 2023, which was received on 6h April, 2023, containing these vague and defamatory allegations, the Legal Counsel to the President, Mr.
Kow Abaka Essuman, acting on the instructions of the President, informed AI Jazeera that the President had not been in private practice since the year 2000 and that the President had no recollection of acting as a lawyer, either personally or through his law firm, Messrs. Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co, for a Mr. Alistair Mathias or his company, Guldrest Resources.”
”In those circumstances, further and better particulars were demanded from Al Jazeera to respond adequately to the allegations made in Al Jazeera’s letter. Al Jazeera was thus requested to provide information on the period for which the President allegedly provided legal representation to Mr. Alistair Mathias or his company, Guldrest Resources. Furthermore, Al Jazeera was requested to provide details of the “USD 100 million tender for state infrastructure”, allegedly given to Mr. Mathias, which he outsourced and kept a percentage in offshore accounts, as stated in the letter as well as information on how the President personally benefited unlawfully from the alleged “USD 100 million tender for state infrastructure.”
Read the full request below
