Following claims by anti-corruption campaigner, Martin Amidu that investigative journalist Anas and his Tigereye PI firm are for-profit organization, Anas has refuted the claims saying he only collaborates with institutions he deemed fit to facilitate his work.
According to Anas, most of his investigations have been successful due to the collaborations he enjoys from other institutions.
He noted that when former President John Mills tasked him to investigate the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Customs Excise the Preventive Service, he collaborated with the institutions themselves.
[contextly_sidebar id=”PrSmUbimo9AOeWOIFBODnnsrKAVk7hAJ”]“We were here in this country when Mills took me up to do ECG and the Tema Harbour… there were loads including pampers which some people were using the office of the president to clear [their] goods without the knowledge of the president and that is what incensed him and he went. So as far as I’m concern, if you give me a job once you do not have editorial discretion on that job, I will take it and I will do it. Please let’s not restrict collaboration and mix things, it’s not financing,” he stressed.
Anas maintained that “…when I was doing Tema Habour if I didn’t have government collaboration I wouldn’t have done it and I don’t think that there would be any journalist who would have done it as effective as I did without that collaboration. We were arrested, how were we going to move and see through the system and move our containers. This is impossible; you needs some of these collaborations.”
Anas made the comment on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday.
Martin Amidu has among other things accused government of sponsoring Anas on his recent judicial corruption exposé.
But Anas insulated the government saying he executed the judicial corruption investigation alone with Tigereye PI team.
The ace journalist also recounted how he enjoyed collaborations during his investigations in other countries.
“I don’t only collaborate in Ghana. In Seychelles I got arrested as soon as I got there and eventually I collaborated with the Seychelles government and we brought some bad guys to book. In Sierra Leone remember when I filmed the Sierra Leonean vice president, I don’t know what would have happened if I had filmed our vice president, we went through same process, it was collaboration. In Tanzania, spell of the albino, same collaboration, so if I cannot do collaboration in other countries then I cannot do collaboration in my country?”
He further dared Mr. Amidu to provide evidence if he thinks otherwise saying “If anybody has evidence of any financial stuff that has gone on, let him provide it.”
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana