International media organization Al Jazeera has refused to apologize to Ghana's President Akufo-Addo over its recent investigative documentary, ‘Gold Mafia,‘ which accused him of corruption.

Al Jazeera said it does not owe the president nor his office any apology since it did not allege the issues raised in the letter from the Jubilee House demanding a retraction and apology.

In a reply to JoyNews' Kwaku Asante's email on Thursday, May 4, requesting a copy of its response to the presidency over the matter, Al Jazeera stated that it has responded to the letter from the president's office, correcting some parts of its content and clarifying various points.

The company said, “Since the documentary did not actually allege what the president's Office has suggested it did, we will not be apologizing or removing it from publication.”

However, Al Jazeera did not share copies of its response to the presidency, stating that it was confidential. “Our reply to the president's office was by way of a confidential letter,” the reply concluded.

On April 25, the Jubilee House, Ghana's seat of government, demanded an unqualified apology from Al Jazeera over its depiction of President Akufo-Addo in its damning documentary.

The letter signed by Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante, stated that “I am instructed by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to demand formally that Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera”) retract immediately and apologize for airing an inaccurate and unfair documentary that contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the President and the Government of Ghana.”

The ‘Gold Mafia' documentary accused President Akufo-Addo of being involved in a gold smuggling and money laundering syndicate in Zimbabwe. The documentary's undercover journalists posing as Chinese gangsters interacted with one of the key parties, Alistair Mathias, who claimed he was instrumental in designing money laundering schemes for many corrupt politicians in Africa.

Mr Mathias named Ghana as one of the countries where he had executed similar schemes, adding that he is good friends with its President, who he also claims used to be his lawyer.

Mr Mathias also outlined his modus operandi to the undercover journalists, suggesting that the most important credential of his operations in Africa comes from the trust that some dubious politicians have in him to keep their siphoned resources safely tucked away.

He revealed that in doing this, the politicians involved do not keep assets in their own names but rely on proxies. Citing government infrastructure as an example, he indicated that he is able to take huge contracts on behalf of Ghanaian politicians, inflate the cost, and subsequently split the profit afterwards.

President Akufo-Addo denied ever acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company. Mr Mathias also denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering into any government contracts in any African country.

Source: Sompaonline.com