Al Jazeera : “We have responded to Akufo-Addo’s letter.”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo demanded an apology and retraction for a documentary in which it was claimed that Mr. Akufo-Addo served as counsel for one Mr. Alistair Mathias, a Canadian gold smuggler and money launderer, and also benefited from an alleged $100 million infrastructure contract given to Mathias. Al Jazeera Network has stated that it has responded to the letter that was sent to them by the president.
This came about as a result of a letter that a reporter from Rapid News sent to Al Jazeera asking if they had received the letter from the Ghanaian presidency.
Al Jazeera reacted to the president of the Republic of Ghana’s letter, correcting some of its content and elaborating on a number of topics.
“We wrote to the president summarizing the allegations presented by Alistair Mathias before Gold Mafia was published. The president’s reply can be seen at the end of the film.
Portions of the letter to Al Jazeera dated 25th April 2023 said: “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 benefited unlawfully from an alleged $100million state infrastructure contract purportedly awarded to Mr Mathias.”
It added: “It is imperative that you act forthwith on this request within seven days from the date of receipt of this letter.”
In the final episode of Al Jazeera’s undercover investigation into Mathias’ gold smuggling and money-laundering activities across Africa, he boastfully claimed to have relationships with various presidents on the continent including President Akufo-Addo.
He described Ghana’s President as a good friend and alleged that the President was his lawyer.
Kow Essuman, the president’s attorney, debunked attempts to connect Mr. Akufo-Addo to Alistair Mathias.
“The President has not been in private practice since 2000, nor has the President or his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. acted as a lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest,” Essuman claimed in a tweet on April 16, 2023.
“This Mathias or Guldrest is unknown to the President. Ignore the false accusations, he continued.
These assertions were seized upon by certain opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) members, who leveled a number of charges against the President.
However, the claims were denied by legal counsel to the President, Kow Essuman who revealed that President Akufo-Addo had not been in private practice as a lawyer since 2000 and his legal chambers has not in any way acted as lawyers to Alistair nor any of his associates.
Mathias is a gold trader with expertise in designing money laundering schemes, a skill that he claims has given him access to heads of states across the continent.
Posing as Chinese criminals seeking to launder money from Africa, Al Jazeera’s investigative team caught up with Mathias who spilled out his modus operandi.
The so-called financial architect also boasted about his alleged relationships with Presidents of some countries and the king of Swaziland.
“There’s no head of states or president that either of us can’t get to on this continent. Next door in Swaziland, the king is a close friend of mine. Zambia’s President is a close friend of mine. DRC, the president has invited me several times to come build a refinery”, he claimed.
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