The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Special Prosecutor and Parliament to launch a full-scale probe into the Aljazeera gold mafia documentary that cited money laundering schemes involving the presidency.
The said documentary forms part of a four-part investigation by Aljazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) that uncovered an international Gold Smuggling mafia and Money Laundering racket operating in various parts of Africa.
In the documentary, one Alistair Mathias who has gained notoriety for designing money laundering schemes for corrupt African Leaders boasted about his close relationship with President Akufo-Addo and other high-profile African leaders.
The NDC questioned why the names of the President and his Vice President keep popping up in shady deals and corruption scandals and stressed this trend must worry every well-meaning Ghanaian.
At a press conference on Tuesday, April 25, the National Communications Officer of the party, Sammy Gyamfi expressed concern about the damning revelation about President Akufo-Addo in the latest documentary by Aljazeera.
Aljazeera investigation
He said, “The continuous naming of the President and his Vice in all manner of bribe-taking syndicates must be a cause for concern for every patriotic Ghanaian who cares about the image of the Presidency”
“The Aljazeera gold mafia documentary also gives currency to the justifiable concerns raised about government’s opaque Gold-for-Oil deal which many experts, civil society organizations and the NDC have had legitimate grounds to criticize and demand transparency and accountability.”
According to him, as has become standard practice under the Akufo-Addo Bawumia NPP government, the presidency has kept a defeating silence on the matter in the wake of the damning revelations contained in the Aljazeera report.
Sammy Gyamfi pointed out that considering the public interest in the matter and what it portends for Ghana’s image among the global comity of nations, there is a need for Parliament to also set up a publicly-televised and bi-partisan probe into the matter in order to ascertain the truth.
Parliament, he said, must establish the number of companies owned by Alistair Mathias in Ghana, which government contracts have been awarded to companies owned by Alistair Mathias since their inception in the country and the propriety or otherwise of the activities of companies owned by Alistair Mathias, among others.
Frimpong Boateng galamsey report
Speaking on the Frimpong-Boateng report scandal, which it said has shocked the conscience of the nation, the NDC argued no amount of half-witted and half-hearted explanations from the Presidency or government can whitewash this great infamy.
“President Akufo-Addo’s complicity in this whole scandal is further magnified by the fact that this stinking report has been on his desk since 2021, yet he has woefully failed to act on same.”
“We are of the view that the only way to establish the truth and get to the bottom of the issues contained in the Frimpong Boateng report, is for Parliament to institute a publicly-televised and bi-partisan enquiry into this report, which essentially is an obituary of President Akufo-Addo’s monumentally failed fight against illegal mining.”
Mr. Sammy Gyamfi urged the Special Prosecutor to act with alacrity by probing the Frimpong Boateng Galamsey report too and prosecute all government officials, NPP functionaries and persons who have perpetrated serious crimes against the State as contained in the report.
The NDC, he said, will formally submit a request to both Parliament and the office of the Special Prosecutor to initiate the necessary investigations into the Gold Mafia documentary as it relates to Ghana and the Galamsey report of Prof. Frimpong Boateng.