{"id":23468,"date":"2023-05-04T16:52:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T15:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/?p=23468"},"modified":"2023-05-04T16:53:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T15:53:41","slug":"no-aplolgy-to-nana-akufo-akufo-addo-the-gold-mafia-al-jazeera-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/04\/no-aplolgy-to-nana-akufo-akufo-addo-the-gold-mafia-al-jazeera-news\/","title":{"rendered":"No Aplolgy To Nana Akufo Addo, The Gold Mafia: Al jazeera News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An international media organization, Al Jazeera, says it has replied to a letter from the Jubilee House which demanded an apology for its recent investigative documentary, Gold Mafia.<\/p>\n<p>A May 3, correspondence to Accra-based TV3 suggests that the international media network has written back to the Presidency following its letter.<\/p>\n<p>Portions of the response to the Accra-based station explained that \u201cwe have responded to the letter of the President of the Republic of Ghana, correcting some parts of its content and clarifying various points.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Jubilee House, in an April 25 letter, demanded an unqualified apology from Al Jazeera over its depiction of President Akufo-Addo in its damning documentary.<\/p>\n<p>The letter signed by Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante stated that; \u201cI am instructed by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to demand formally that Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera\u201d) 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Al Jazeera stated that \u201cprior to the publication of Gold Mafia, we wrote to the president<\/p>\n<p>outlining the claims made by Alistair Mathias. The president\u2019s response appears near the end of the documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the Presidency is yet to make public the contents of the said response as sent by Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How Ghana appeared in Al Jazeera\u2019s \u2018Gold Mafia\u2019 Documentary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Earlier in April, Ghana popped up in a damning investigative documentary conducted into some of Zimbabwe\u2019s gold smuggling and money laundering syndicates.<\/p>\n<div id=\"in-article1\"><\/div>\n<p>In the concluding episode, undercover journalists posing as Chinese gangsters interact with one of the key parties, Alistair Mathias to help clean their dirty money.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Alistair who is described in the piece as a Financial Architect told the reporters posing as criminals that he had a track record of successfully orchestrating such syndicates.<\/p>\n<p>Essentially, he is said to be instrumental in designing money laundering schemes for many corrupt politicians in Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Alistair 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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"in-article2\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cGhana\u2019s President is a good friend of mine, in fact, he was my lawyer,\u201d he told the undercover reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mathias added that he used to be the biggest smuggler in Ghana at one point, raking out about $40 million to $60 million worth of gold a month from the West African country.<\/p>\n<p>During the documentary, Alistair 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.<\/p>\n<p>He revealed that in doing this, the politicians involved do not keep assets in their own names, but rely on proxies.<\/p>\n<p>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 afterward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Ghana, I take tenders, road construction, procurement, supplying different things, oil, this that. There, all the politicians get taken care of, indirectly because it allows me to do all my other stuff freely.<\/p>\n<p>He explains further in the documentary;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor example, Ghana government, Mathias Holdings, I get the contract. I subcontract it to you, a $100 million contract. Ghana&#8217;s government pays me $100 million. I give it to you and you say it\u2019s $80 million\u201d he told the investigative reporters who secretly recorded the interaction.<\/p>\n<div id=\"in-article4\"><\/div>\n<p>In this scenario, the outstanding $20 million out of the inflated $100 million is shared per an arrangement reached between Alistair and the said politician.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll have an arrangement with them, and they get 15\u2026 I\u2019ll probably get 5 million,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI keep all of it in Dubai. Whenever they want it, they just tell me and I send it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo says had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company.<\/p>\n<div id=\"in-article5\"><\/div>\n<p>Mr. Mathias has also denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering into any government contracts in any African country.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-23470\" src=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1-696x696.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1-420x420.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1.jpeg 707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-23471\" src=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-300x173.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-300x173.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1024x590.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-768x443.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-696x401.jpeg 696w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-1068x616.jpeg 1068w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM-728x420.jpeg 728w, https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-05-04-at-3.41.19-PM.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An international media organization, Al Jazeera, says it has replied to a letter from the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,51],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-scaled.jpg",2560,1254,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-300x147.jpg",300,147,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-768x376.jpg",640,313,true],"large":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-1024x502.jpg",640,314,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-1536x752.jpg",1536,752,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-2048x1003.jpg",2048,1003,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-scaled.jpg",1024,502,false],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-scaled.jpg",825,404,false],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-scaled.jpg",590,289,false]},"author_info":{"display_name":"nkyeremunews","author_link":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/author\/nkyeremunews\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/category\/uncategorised\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Nkyeremu<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/category\/world-news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">World News<\/a>","tag_info":"World News","comment_count":"54","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeFunky-collage-86-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkyeremunews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}