Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has said that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is preempting likely investigations by Special Prosceurot into the Al Jazeera documentary in which it was stated that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo acted as a lawyer for one Mr Alistair Mathias, a Canadian Gold smuggler and money launderer, and also benefited from an alleged $100million infrastructure contract awarded to Mathias.
In a statement, Mr Amidu who is also a former Attorney General said one would have thought that the Al Jazeera undercover investigators emulated the President of Ghana’s oath and fidelity to fight corruption using the “Anas Principle” in unveiling the suspected corruption disclosed by the members of the Gold Mafia, whose stories are contained in the Al Jazeera documentaries involving African Presidents, and which incidentally included Nana Addo.
“One would also have, therefore, thought that the President of Ghana, who like Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion, would allow the Special Prosecutor to exercise his powers to investigate the allegations contained in the Al Jazeera undercover investigation documentary as I did in the Agyapa Royalties Transactions scam.
“As things stand now, the President appears to be preempting the likely investigation by a committed and dutiful Special Prosecutor to investigate the contents of the undercover investigative documentary for corruption and/or corruption-related offences against his Government.
“The President’s conduct in attempting to preempt a corruption investigation could also be due to the fact that he is assured that the Special Prosecutor is a mere poodle looking for the low hanging fruits, who will allow the President to pretend to pursue his own possible cover-ups with the letters of 11 April 2023 and 25 April 2023 from his office to Al Jazeera. Where a suspected crime is a felony, and also gives rise to a civil remedy at the same time, the crime must be investigated and possibly prosecuted first, in my understanding of the law.
“Nature dictated my resignation as the Special Prosecutor on account of the cover-up the President wanted me to condone in the Agyapa Royalties Transaction investigation, otherwise I would have been in trouble again. I definitely would have begun investigations into these serious allegations of suspected corruption and/or corruption related offences against the Government contained in the Al Jazeera documentary by now,” his statement said.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera Network has said it has responded to the letter that was written to them by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, demanding an apology and retraction for a documentary.
This was after a journalist with TV3 wrote to Al Jazeera, enquiring whether or not they received the letter from Ghana’s Presidency.
In a response Al Jazeera said: “We have responded to the letter from the president of the Republic of Ghana, correcting some parts of its content and clarifying various points.
“Prior to the publication of Gold Mafia, we wrote to the president outlining the claims made by Alistair Mathias. The president’s response appears near the end of the documentary.”
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.
The President’s lawyer Kow Essuman also refuted attempts to link Mr Akufo-Addo to Alistair Mathias.
In a tweet on Sunday 16 April 2023, Essuman wrote that: “The President has not been in private practice since 2000, neither has the President nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. acted as a lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest”.
“The President does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations”, he added.
Some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) latched on to these claims and raised various accusations 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.
