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Tag: West African country

  • F1 ditches South Africa return due to Russia links

    F1 ditches South Africa return due to Russia links

    The South African Grand Prix’s eagerly anticipated return to the F1 schedule has been postponed due to the nation’s relations with Russia.

    While refusing to criticise the invasion and taking a neutral posture on the conflict in Ukraine, South Africa has recently been accused of arming Russia, a charge that President Cyril Ramaphosa has vehemently refuted.

    The scenario has placed the African country in a challenging political position, which F1 chiefs have apparently acknowledged and are now supposedly addressing.

    According to RacingNews365, plans to revive the race that was last held in 1993 have been abandoned, news that will no doubt disappoint fans who have been calling for its return for years.

    This will include Sir Lewis Hamilton, who has repeatedly stated his desire to race in Africa, saying back in April 2022: ‘We’re pretty much on every other continent, so why not? Ultimately, my ancestors are from there so that’s why it is important for me personally.’

    F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali echoed this sentiment, adding that an African race would be their next priority once they had sorted the additions of the Miami and Las Vegas Grand Prix.

    And though there have been many difficult financial hurdles to overcome, there was confidence that a deal could be struck soon for the event to be held at the newly renovated Kyalami circuit.

    The South African Grand Prix was first held back in 1962 and moved to Kyalami five years later where it remained until the mid 1980s when it was removed from the calendar because of Apartheid, before returning in 1992 only for financial issues to see it cancelled just a year later.

    Had South Africa made it onto the 2024 calendar, it would likely have taken the place of the Belgian Grand Prix which has been under threat for some time despite its popularity among fans and drivers.

    But with F1 chiefs determined to have a record-breaking 24-race calendar, they will now likely strive to renew its contract for at least another year.

    2023 was meant to have been the first 24-race season in the sport’s history, only for China to be cancelled because of COVID while the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was also called off due to major flooding in the Italian region.

    In the meantime, this season continues with the Canadian Grand Prix on 18th June.

  • Gold Mafia Docu: Retract and apologise in 7 days or else .. – Akufo-Addo warns Aljazeera

    Gold Mafia Docu: Retract and apologise in 7 days or else .. – Akufo-Addo warns Aljazeera

    Jubilee House is requesting a sincere apology from the international media outlet, Al Jazeera, for dragging President Akufo-Addo’s name in the mud in its latest documentary, Gold Mafia.

    Al Jazeera has seven days within which to oblige the seat of government, according to a notice issued by Jubilee House on April 25, 2023.

    A 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.”

    Earlier this month, Ghana popped up in a damning investigative documentary conducted into some of Zimbabwe’s gold smuggling and money laundering syndicates.

    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.

    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.

    Essentially, he is said to be instrumental in designing money laundering schemes for many corrupt politicians in Africa.

    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.

    “Ghana’s President is a good friend of mine, in fact, he was my lawyer,” he told the undercover reporters.

    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.

    But the Presidency says some “parts of the documentary are malicious, defamatory, and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the President and Government of Ghana.”

    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.

    'Gold Mafia': Al Jazeera must retract and apologise to Akufo-Addo - Jubilee House
    'Gold Mafia': Al Jazeera must retract and apologise to Akufo-Addo - Jubilee House

    He revealed that in doing this, the politicians involved do not keep assets in their own names, but rely on proxies.

    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 afterwards.

    “In 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.

    He explains further in the documentary;

    “For example, Ghana government, Mathias Holdings, I get the contract. I subcontract it to you, $100 million contract. Ghana government pays me $100 million. I give it to you and you say it’s $80 million” he told the investigative reporters who secretly recorded the interaction.

    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.

    “I’ll have an arrangement with them and they get 15… I’ll probably get 5 million,” he added.

    “I keep all of it in Dubai. Whenever they want it, they just tell me and I send it.”

    Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo responded to Aljazeera on these claims saying had no recollection of acting as a lawyer for Alistair Mathias or his company.

    Mr Mathias has also denied ever being awarded any tender by the Ghanaian government or entering into any government contracts in any African country.

    Ghana’s food production projected to dip