Anas Exposé: Baako tackles Bagbin

It is unbelievable that Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Babgin, is questioning the decision by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to show portions of his latest undercover work which captured alleged corruption involving Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, to President Nana Akufo-Addo before the scheduled premiering date, Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul-Malik Kwaku Baako, has said.

According to Mr Baako, since the names of the president and his deputy were mentioned in the documentary, it was only ethical that they were given the chance to respond before the final work is put out in the public domain.

President Nana Akufo-Addo reported Mr Nyantakyi to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on Tuesday, 22 May after having been privy to the documentary, which captured the FA boss allegedly using the president’s name for personal gain.

Addressing the press on the issue, Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Abu Jinapor, indicated that President Nana Akufo-Addo is focused on tackling corruption and every individual found guilty in the documentary, will face the law.

But Mr Bagbin subsequently said Anas erred by showing the piece to the president ahead of publication.

He said: “We were told that it would be aired on the 6th of June and all of a sudden, some people have gotten the opportunity of viewing it before the 6th of June and no other person than the number one gentleman in this country, the president himself has given an indication that he has had sight of that documentary.

“There are question marks to this; the question mark is why him? Why have some people been given the opportunity to see the documentary before the general public? There is an issue there. Who are those behind it? Corruption is moved against the giver and the receiver, and, so, if there are allegations made against somebody, it is important for it to come up for all of us to see how this is handled. Should they be investigated or one group of people should be investigated? Who are those involved? Is it the president? Is it just the vice? There are so many questions without answers.”

“We should have allowed the documentary to be aired on 6th for all of us to see and then the decisions will be taken. Maybe some aspects will have to refer to some institutions to unearth some evidence which may lead to some criminal suspicion before we could talk about orders.

“An order coming from the President has too much weight to it and raises a lot of political issues. If others are given the opportunity to view the documentary, and they see some aspects that are unpleasant, will they prevail on Tiger eye to cut away some portions?”

Reacting to Mr Bagbin’s comments on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Thursday, 24 May, Mr Baako said: “This is incredible, absolutely incredible. If he were to be in that situation, would he be happy if this was to be put out there without his response, without his views unsolicited, would he be happy?

He added: “Even the ethics alone compel the investigators to give the president that option of watching. In any case, it is not as if the president watched all the video.”

Source: Classfmonline