Prominent economist and former presidential advisor Eddie Cross has publicly apologized to President Emmerson Mnangagwa after being summoned to State House following controversial claims that the president’s sons are involved in looting public funds.

The summons came after Cross’s interview with South African broadcaster Newzroom Afrika ahead of the March 31 planned protests, in which he alleged Mnangagwa failed to tackle corruption because his own family members are implicated.

“The problem is he’s not been able to tackle some of the fundamental problems we have… there’s lots of evidence that his own family is deeply corrupt, that some of his children are engaged in criminal activity on a large scale,” Cross said during the televised interview.

Cross claimed the scale of corruption in Zimbabwe “probably exceeds our national budget.”

In a letter made public following his State House meeting, Cross confirmed he was asked to provide evidence for his allegations against the president’s family, which he admitted he could not substantiate.

“On Tuesday I requested a meeting with the President and told him that I recognised that I should not have involved his family, and I apologised unreservedly,” Cross wrote in his letter.

According to Cross, Mnangagwa expressed concern about the general corruption allegations and requested evidence. “On the issue of his children being involved, he asked who was implicated and I identified three of his sons,” Cross stated.

In a follow-up meeting at State House on Wednesday, Cross met with the three sons he had implicated but “could not provide firm evidence to support these allegations and rumors.”

The economist has since withdrawn his statements regarding the president’s family’s involvement in corruption.

Cross’s retraction comes amid ongoing public frustration over corruption in Zimbabwe, which contributed to the nationwide stay-away that occurred on March 31.