International media organisation Al Jazeera says it will not apologise to President Akufo-Addo over its recent investigative documentary, ‘Gold Mafia’.
Al Jazeera said it does not owe the president nor his office any apology since it did not allege the issues raised in the letter from the Jubilee House demanding a retraction and apology.
The Doha-based company made this known in a reply to JoyNews’ Kwaku Asante’s email on Thursday, May 4, requesting a copy of its response to the presidency over the matter.
“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,” excerpts of the Al Jazeera response said.
However, it did not share copies of its response to the presidency stating it’s confidential.
“Our reply to the president’s office was by way of a confidential letter,” the reply concluded.
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.
The letter signed by Secretary to the President, Nana Bediatuo Asante stated that; “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.”
But Al Jazeera stated that it has corrected and also clarified some of the contents in the letter from the Jubilee House.