The international news network Al Jazeera has refused to apologise to President Akufo-Addo for airing the documentary Gold Mafia, which exposed corruption in the Ghanaian government.
The government demanded an apology and retraction from Al Jazeera on April 25, 2023, via a letter signed by Nana Asante Bediatuo, after the network’s documentary implied that Akufo-Addo met with Canadian money launderer and gold smuggler Alistair Mathias.
“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 apologise for airing an inaccurate and unfair documentary that contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the President and the Government of Ghana.”
After receiving a letter from the Jubilee House seeking a retraction and apology, Al Jazeera responded by saying it owes neither the president nor his office an apology because it did not allege the issues stated in the letter.
“We have responded to the letter from the president’s office, correcting some parts of its content and clarifying various points. Since the documentary did not actually allege what the president’s Office has suggested it did, we will not be apologising or removing it from publication.” the response reads.
After the letter was published, a TV3 reporter from Accra wrote to the channel based in Doha, asking if they had received the letter demanding a retraction and apology from the government and if they planned to respond to the letter.
TV3 broadcast an email response from Al Jazeera on the May 4 edition of the News Day programme, implying that the station had addressed all of Akufo-Addo’s concerns prior to the airing of the mentioned documentary.
However, it has not provided the presidency with copies of its response, citing confidentiality concerns. The letter ended with the words, “Our reply to the president’s office was by way of a confidential letter.”
Background
An alleged friend and lawyer of President Akufo-Addo is the gold merchant who was the subject of Al Jazeera’s Gold Mafia investigative documentary. According to the latest news on the Gold Mafia investigation by Al Jazeera, a group of criminals in South Africa are responsible for billions of dollars’ worth of gold smuggling and money laundering.
Despite this, the members of this gold smuggling organisation have wide business connections across Africa and are active in numerous other nations, including Ghana. The undercover journalists pretended to be Chinese criminals and wanted Alistair Mathias, whom they characterised as a financial architect who constructs money laundering plans for corrupt politicians.
While negotiating with the undercover reporters, he said President Akufo-Addo was his friend and lawyer. Alistair had previously admitted to smuggling $40 million worth of gold from Ghana every month, which is $480 million worth of gold every year.
