Refuge from Subterfuge, What next Anas Aremeyaw Anas?

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*And so the nation waited with bated breath as its most illustrious investigative journalist of the New Crusading GUIDE and boss of Tiger Eye – a private security agency – Anas Aremeyaw Anas, dropped hints of his latest piece titled; ‘Enemies Of The Nation.”*

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After the long anticipation and wait, the first installment of a five part serialized exposé hit the newsstands on Wednesday February 2, 2011, and with his wholly exclusive and detailed report from result oriented journalism, Anas ensured the New Crusading GUIDE of that day was a sell-out.

Then after the first and second batches of the exposés, *‘The Dark Secrets of Tema Harbour, ENEMIES OF THE NATION (1)’* and *‘Enemies of The Nation (2) RAW DEAL IN TEMA HARBOUR’* were published, the substantive issues in the infamous video was suffering credibility.

The actions and inactions of an individual who should have known better was threatening to derail almost three months of painstaking undercover investigation into what many Ghanaians knew was ongoing but were badly in search of the very evidence Anas had presented in audio-visual and by way of print, and in whose absence the* ‘enemies of the nation’* thrived.

The individual in question, lawyer and host of one of Ghana’s flagship evening talk programmes on Metropolitan Television, Paul Adom-Otchere, who had done us all the ‘honour’ of leaking an unedited tape of an interview he had with Anas relative to his undercover job on cocoa smuggling and the ports.

So even though the third installment of the exposé published on the Friday February 4, 2011 titled; *‘Enemies of The Nation (3) TYCOONS OF FRAUD,’*Okyere and his leaks had ended up diverting attention from the *‘enemies’* as it were to other tangential issues as Anas’ motives and technique.

All the better as the Okyere-leak captured as a *‘stab in the back’*dominated political and social commentary on the Friday, that an angry President Mills went unannounced to the Ports to express his revulsion and anger at what had been discovered, and all through the weekend.

Adom-Otchere in the mother of all double speaks, admits his wrongdoing with respect to the leak but yet turns round to deny claims of ever doing anything wrong, because the content of the New Crusading GUIDE publication on his leaks was all provided by him, a hullabaloo if you ask me.

On the same Friday and over the week however, Government officials obviously with scanty information on the issue as to what contribution the state put into Anas’ work, delegated themselves to put through definitive statements like; *‘Gov’t funded Anas’ Work,’* with flat denials of any such funding efforts coming through almost immediately. Culprit general, Okudzeto Ablakwah.

Funding, sponsorship, payment, collaboration et al had become points of disagreements as people with varied interests on Anas’ work, looking to cash in on what in my opinion was clearly a semantic somersault that was rightly so open to interpretation depending on who was interpreting.

Then came Monday after the President had visited the Ports, some newspapers (Enquirer) were suggesting authoritatively that the exposé was part of a grand plan orchestrated and paid for by a ministry (Finance & Economic Planning) to implicate the other (Trades and Industry)

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Meanwhile Editor-In-Chief of the paper for which Anas writes, had refuted flatly any financial dealings in what was purely Anas style of journalism

*At this juncture I think it would be proper to situate all issues to be raised subsequently well within the parameters of a analysis of positions put across by individuals to be mentioned and by no means an attack on the personality of people mentioned, all of whom I respect.*

First is the case of Raymond Archer, himself an investigative journalist during his time at the Ghanaian Chronicle and currently the Publisher of the Enquirer Newspaper. He called in to question the idea of state-funded journalism as was widely rumoured in the case of Anas’ recent piece.

Raymond further enquired whether or not Government could influence editorial content of any newspaper, reason being that under the supposition that Anas was sponsored, he (Anas) by publishing the findings of his investigation in the New Crusading GUIDE newspaper of which he is co-publisher, amounted to some sort of journalistic impropriety.

A professor at the School of Communication Studies (SCS) at the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof Ansu Kyeremeh, agrees with Raymond Archer to the extent that if really Anas’ work was funded by the state, then the state reserved rights over its usage and onward communication.

Dr. Audrey Gadzekpo, a member of the National Media Commission and lecturer at the SCS, steps into the maelstrom created by the source of funding of the Enemies of the nation story, whiles asking that Anas revealed his source of funding, gives Raymond Archer a measure of response perhaps on Anas’ behalf.

Her exact words on Joy FM were as follows; *“I have heard the tape of Raymond Archer on his high horse declaring that it is unethical (for Government to sponsor the investigations) but Raymond has to ask himself, who pays for the editorial content in newspapers?”*

Archer in his effusions forgot the several times he has been on official Government trips, all at the expense of the tax payer. Anas’ work is investigative *JOURNALISM* (Caps mine) and for perhaps the umpteenth time, I add my voice to saying it was strictly at an administrative level and on a plane where Mr. Aremeyaw seeks first his editorial independence in publication of his hard found findings.

Having said all this, submissions as situated by Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, who rightfully so questions whether the Mills led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had lost faith in the security and other state agencies to go as far as engage the services of a private investigator to execute the mandate of state institutions funded by tax payers money?

Then again, the simple answer lies in the systemic failure of most of the state institutions, vis-à-vis lack of funding, personnel and logistics in their work, all this comparative to an independent mind (Tiger Eye) seeking the best interest of the state in the general scheme of events.

Anas has since spoken on Joy fm, challenging anybody to produce a written contract between himself and Government as is widely alleged, his very well written article *“Anas Aremeyaw Anas: State-Funded Journalism – In the Interest of the State?”** speaks for itself and succinctly so, a must-read if you will for all concerned parties.*

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*The totality of the work must be the property of Anas and of Tiger Eye, whose credits roll at the end of the tape, but for the several ‘worried persons’** who think Anas in a supposed opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) camp should not benefit from the ruling government, this ain’t no time to moot baby qualms. Period!*

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*Then again, the very needless and grossly misplaced politicization of Anas’s work must be stopped and NOW! For the records and for whoever wills to know; Anas’ work over the past years, has known no political coloration even religious bounds, a case in point, being the **“Imam’s School of Shock” (August, 2008),* a piece dispassionately done despite Anas being Muslim.

I find the desperate attempts in the media especially to paint the tireless effort of the Tiger Eye team led by Anas; as most nauseating, disgusting, cheap and inimical in the general scheme of events to presentation of factual issues which transcend political administrations.

But then again, all of the above came about when an astute and widely experienced journalist in the mould of Paul Adom-Otchere decided to compromise confidentiality, which was in total breach at the time he leaked an unedited tape of a yet to be aired recorded interview with Anas, undisputedly the most sought after personality in Ghana – loved by well meaning persons and vice versa.

Adom-Otchere has since the incidence of a few months back lost a measure of credibility, I dare say with a section of the media savvy public, the risks associated with the release of the tape, left ay too much to be desired of a person his caliber and standing within media circles.

As per his call for Metro TV to air the said video, I laugh at what is a clear case of a drowning man clutching at *‘his own feet’* in the thick of his confusion as he struggled to weave himself out of a self inflicted * “wahala.”*

The shrewd person that Anas and his immediate boss, Abdul Malik Baako, have proven to be over the years, I habour not the lowliest tincture of doubt that, they are battle ready to meet anyone in court and in defense of every single word that went into the scripting of the *“Enemies of the Nation”*piece.

*“I have no apologies in so far as it goes for the general good of the people. The collaboration (with government) was not financial, even if it was I would not mind once the work is fair, I am in high spirits, I have even finished your easter package, guess what bomshell it is; the criminals are becoming uncomfortable.”*

With these words pasted on his facebook wall in the heat of the whole confidentiality breach, I have gotten my fingers crossed in wait for the next installment of investigative artistry from Tiger Eye and from Anas Aremeyaw Anas, for who I ceaselessly supplicate that Allah aids, guides and protects in all that he sets out to execute. 21 gun salute boss!

By Shabu Musah Kwankwaso

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