Investigative journalistAnas Aremeyaw Anashas expressed optimism about receiving the $18 million (£14 million) awarded to him in a defamation lawsuit against Ghanaian MP Kennedy Agyapong. However, he emphasized that the real victory lies in the precedent set by the ruling.
The lawsuit stemmed from Agyapong’s public accusations, branding Anas a “criminal” following his exposé on corruption in Ghanaian and international football. Although Anas initially lost the case in Ghana, he pursued legal action in the United States—where Agyapong owns assets—and secured a favorable judgment.
“The bigger impact for me is not the money but the fact that young journalists are encouraged [to hold the powerful to account] no matter how big you are [as] a politician”, Anas told the BBC.
During the trial, the court was informed that Agyapong had made several allegations against Anas on a podcast, including calling him a “criminal” and accusing him of involvement in the murder of journalist Ahmed Suale.
Speaking to the BBC, Anas expressed his continued grief over Suale’s death. While acknowledging the recent arrest of a suspect, he remains convinced that others responsible for the crime are still at large.
“From time to time I go to where Ahmed was shot, and I go to have my own quiet time. I go to his grave.
“It encourages me. When Ahmed was alive he asked me one day: ‘Boss, I want [to] assure you [that] one day if you should die, I would continue with the good work that you do’. I didn’t know it was going to be the reverse because, all along… I was the one who was the target.”
Anas has been scathing in his criticism of Ghana’s legal system, telling the BBC he believes “many” members of the judiciary “are doing nothing but tilting the scale of justice in favour of the wrong one”.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas pursued his defamation case against MP Kennedy Agyapong in New Jersey, citing the politician’s presence in the state during his appearance on the Daddy Fred Show podcast, as outlined in court documents.
Earlier this month, an eight-member jury in Essex County Superior Court unanimously ruled in favor of Anas, holding Agyapong liable for defamation. The court awarded the investigative journalist $18 million in damages, including $8 million in punitive compensation.
“I feel very happy, I think that it’s a vindication of what I have always preached. This goes a long way to encourage African journalists across the continent there’s a need for us to be resilient. There’s a need for us to have a stomach to take the heat,” Anas told the BBC. Now that the court has ordered Agyapong to pay damages, the journalist says he is confident the funds will be transferred because his legal team’s “due diligence” had assessed the value of property and businesses owned by the MP before bringing the case.
“I cannot be 100% certain, but I know that my legal team has done some work and they have a plan,” he adds.
Anas says that, even though his case was won in the US, it should serve as a wake-up call to the rich and powerful that African journalists can and will hold them to account.
“We also have the capacity to stand toe-to-toe with you. Whilst we are patient, whilst we are honest, our day will definitely come.”
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has declared that falsehood and character assassination must not be tolerated in any society, following his legal victory in the Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey.
The court found Ghanaian politician Kennedy Agyapong guilty of defamation, ordering him to pay $18 million in damages.
Anas, known for his undercover exposés on corruption, emphasized that the ruling was not just a personal triumph but a significant stand against misinformation and reputational attacks.
“This decision is not merely a legal triumph—it is a resounding affirmation that falsehood and character assassination have no place in our society,” he stated.
The lawsuit stemmed from statements made by Agyapong in the aftermath of the BBC documentary Betraying the Game, which was released on October 28, 2018. Agyapong had accused Anas of misconduct, allegations the journalist said were baseless and intended to tarnish his credibility.
The jury’s unanimous decision underscored the high bar required to prove defamation in the U.S., something Anas highlighted as a crucial aspect of the case.
“Proving defamation in the United States is an exceptionally high hurdle, requiring clear and convincing evidence of malice,” he noted. “That the jury ruled unanimously in my favour underscores that Mr. Agyapong acted both maliciously and recklessly in his attacks against me.”
Drawing a stark comparison, Anas pointed to his failed defamation case against Agyapong in Ghana, where the court dismissed his claims despite Agyapong’s admission of lacking evidence to support his accusations.
“In Ghana, justice eluded me,” Anas lamented. “Despite Mr. Agyapong’s own admission of lacking evidence to support his calumnious claims, Justice Eric Baah of the Accra High Court not only denied me justice but also unjustly portrayed me—the civil plaintiff—as a criminal.”
He further cited Ghanaian Supreme Court Justice Kulendi’s critique of the ruling, labeling it a “violent abuse of judicial authority.”
According to Anas, the outcome of the U.S. case served as a reminder of the disparities between legal systems and highlighted the need for judicial reforms in Ghana.
“In contrast, the proceedings in New Jersey demonstrated fairness and accountability,” he said. “Despite presenting the same Who Watches the Watchman evidence and even citing the Ghanaian judgment, Mr. Agyapong’s defence collapsed before the weight of truth.”
With the verdict in his favor, Anas issued a strong warning to politicians who seek to undermine journalists and the media.
“Today’s outcome sends a powerful message, particularly to Ghanaian politicians: you cannot take the media for granted,” he declared. “The press plays an indispensable role in scrutinizing power and holding leaders accountable, and any attempt to undermine this essential function will be met with resolute resistance.”
Anas also extended gratitude to his legal team, led by Andrew Deheer, Esq., and to those who supported him throughout the legal battle. As he awaits the determination of punitive damages, he reaffirmed his dedication to his anti-corruption mission.
“The fight against corruption continues unabated,” he asserted. “We will persist in rooting out graft and holding accountable the bad actors in our society.”
His victory has reignited discussions on press freedom, judicial integrity, and the role of political influence in shaping public narratives.
Founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe,has cast doubt on the credibility of prominent investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, questioning the authenticity of his work.
In a recent interview with Starr FM, Nyaho-Tamakloe, who also served as Ghana’s Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, criticized Anas as being dishonest.
Nyaho-Tamakloe’s remarks came in response to discussions about Anas’s “Number 12” documentary, which led to a lifetime ban for former Ghana Football Association President Kwasi Nyantakyi from FIFA.
The retired military officer expressed skepticism about Anas’s integrity and questioned the impact of the documentary on Nyantakyi’s international standing.
Despite Anas’s accolades as an undercover journalist, Nyaho-Tamakloe voiced a lack of trust in his methods and findings.
“I personally don’t believe that gentleman [Anas]…I have no issue with him, I don’t even know him. But as I study carefully the way he goes about things; I know that he is not an honest man. Why do I say so? As an investigative journalist, what you are able to see or discover, you keep it to yourself.
In fact, you later take everyone by surprise. But in this case, when he collects whatever he has, he shows it to certain people. He showed it (Number 12 documentary) to President Akufo-Addo, former President John Mahama.’
“Those people shouldn’t have seen it. Akufo Addo shouldn’t have seen it, John Mahama shouldn’t have seen it and the others that saw it, not even Kwaku Baako. What he should have done was to give us a surprise. The first group he should have shown it to was the public.
After having showed it to certain personalities, the whole thing lost its interest. What was even dangerous was that after that, Kwasi was being attacked left and right.
But names that were mentioned, nobody talked about them. I don’t think that is fair,” Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe stated.
He added that what Anas is practicing is not investigative journalism.
“I don’t know that Anas, but I personally don’t believe him. I don’t think he’s doing very genuine work. I have read about investigative journalists, and this is not the way they operate.
He sorts of tricks and traps people. He wasn’t fair to Kwasi Nyantakyi, not at all,” Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe said.
The trial of former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi and another defendant has been postponed by the High Court in Accra to October 16, 2024. They face charges of fraud and corruption stemming from investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ 2018 undercover video expose titled #12#.
Both Nyantakyi and Abdulai Alhassan, former Northern Regional GFA President, have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Presiding over the case, Justice Marie-Louise Simmons adjourned proceedings pending the resolution of two appeals lodged by both the prosecution and the defense at the Court of Appeal.
The prosecution is appealing the High Court’s directive for Anas to reveal his identity to Nyantakyi in private before testifying in open court while masked. Nyantakyi’s legal team has also filed an appeal.
Justice Simmons had previously stated, “If by April, no meaningful steps have been taken by the prosecution, Nyantakyi would be discharged.”
In June 2018, Anas released a video investigation revealing former GFA President Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi and other football administrators compromising the integrity of the sport.
Following the release, Mr. Nyantakyi resigned from his positions at the GFA, CAF, and FIFA. He was initially banned for life from football, but the ban was later reduced to 15 years.
Mr. Nyantakyi has claimed that Anas, through his lawyers, demanded $150,000 to suppress the story, but he could only provide $100,000. He stated that Anas deemed the amount insufficient, leading to the video’s release.
“After the video came out, I asked for a refund and even the refund was done in pieces. Today, they would bring $20,000, and the next day another $10,000. They were giving me stories, but eventually I got everything back,” he said.
In a statement on social media, Anas refuted the allegations, emphasizing that the primary mission of his investigative network, Tiger Eye, is to expose and combat corruption. He asserted that the idea of shielding corrupt individuals is utterly absurd, considering the significant resources and efforts devoted to producing such exposés.
“Tiger Eye P.I. unequivocally asserts that any purported criminal arrangement between Mr Nyantakyi and any alleged lawyer remains solely between Mr Nyantakyi and the purported recipient,” it said.
“Tiger Eye P.I. firmly denies any involvement or knowledge of such activities. Should Mr Nyantakyi’s claims hold substance, we challenge him to pursue legal action against Lawyer Kwame Gyan, including lodging a petition with the General Legal Council, to substantiate his allegations,” it added.
Anas also stated that Mr. Nyantakyi, by his own admission, was both a bribe-giver and a bribe-taker, having attempted to bribe his way out of a thorough investigation into his conduct. Consequently, Anas argued that Nyantakyi’s self-confessed bribery attempt justified the life ban from participating in any football-related activities at both national and international levels, as stipulated by the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE).
“It is noted that Mr Nyantakyi appears to be endeavouring to restore his credibility, presumably with aspirations to contest as a parliamentary candidate for the Ejisu Constituency under the New Patriotic Party,” the statement said.
“The decision regarding Mr Nyantakyi’s eligibility rests with the NPP and the constituents of Ejisu.
Nonetheless, it’s imperative to emphasise that Tiger Eye P.I. conducted a thorough investigation, leading to Mr Nyantakyi’s conviction and subsequent ban from football activities due to bribery, conflict of interest,” it added.
During the interview, Nyantakyi made several surprising revelations and allegations that sparked widespread discussion and debate.
Amidst the myriad of claims, there were five particularly noteworthy statements that garnered significant attention and fueled numerous conversations.
Here, we explore five key remarks made by Kwesi Nyantakyi during his televised interview.
Admitting to paying a $100,000 bribe to kill number 12 documentary
Kwesi Nyantakyi claimed that he offered $100,000 to Anas Aremeyaw Anas in exchange for not including his involvement in the Number 12 documentary.
He provided detailed accounts of the alleged discussions and financial transactions that occurred prior to the documentary’s broadcast.
Nyantakyi implicated several notable individuals who were aware of the situation and played roles in facilitating the arrangement, ultimately leading to his purported payment of $100,000 to Anas.
According to Nyantakyi, he received a reimbursement after his segment was featured in the documentary, which aired in 2018.
“Before the video was released, a former colleague at the GFA Exco, Adam Munkaila, took me to Anas’ lawyer. I met him at his residence around Westland and he told me Anas was his student and had informed him he needed $150,000 to kill the story.
“I gave them $100,000, but they told me the amount was inadequate and later went ahead to release the video,” Nyantakyi said in an interview with Captain Smart on Onua TV on Tuesday morning.
“After the video came out, I asked for a refund and even the refund was done in instalments. Today, they would bring $20,000, and the next day another $10,000. They were giving me stories, but eventually I got everything back,” he said.
2. Becoming a Minister of Sports
The ex-CAF vice president declared his eagerness to seize the chance to serve as a sports minister in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
He indicated that the prospect of taking on the role under the NPP government is feasible, whereas it appears improbable under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership.
“If NPP comes and they make me a sports minister, I may consider it but if the NDC comes and they consider me, it will be difficult.”
Nyantakyi has transitioned into politics and is set to contest the NPP parliamentary seat in the Ejisu Constituency.
3. Relationship with George Afriyie
The ex-GFA president discussed his rapport with his former vice president, George Afriyie.
He clarified that while there are no hostilities between them, he does not consider Afriyie to be a close friend.
“I have no issues with George Afriyie,” he confessed.
“If someone offends me, I don’t keep it in me; and I’ve let go of everything but I will not call him. He’s not my friend that I call for us to sit somewhere or go to the bush canteen to eat fufu,” said Nyantakyi.
4. Apology to Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo-Addo
Nyantakyi apologised to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his vice, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for using their names in the documentary.
“I admit I was wrong to mention the President [Akufo-Addo] and his Vice [Dr Mahamudu Bawumia] in that incident. I am sorry and I hope they forgive me,” he said.
5. Ghana football has declined
During the interview, Kwesi Nyantakyi offered his thoughts on the state of Ghana football, implying that he was the glue that held the sport together.
Nyantakyi claimed that Ghanaian football has been in decline since he stepped down from his position in 2018.
“Ghana football has declined since I left. Since 2019, we have consistently exited tournaments in the first round or even during the group stage. So, if you plot it on a graph, you’d see a sharp decline.”
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his firm, Tiger Eye P.I., have refuted allegations made by former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Nyantakyi claimed that he paid $100,000 to Anas through a lawyer to prevent the airing of the explosive “Number 12” documentary, which featured incriminating footage of him.
However, Tiger Eye P.I. has categorically denied soliciting bribes from Nyantakyi. They clarified that their legal representation is exclusively handled by CromwellGray LLP, not the lawyer Nyantakyi mentioned.
Furthermore, Tiger Eye P.I. pointed out that Nyantakyi’s admission of paying bribes corroborates FIFA’s decision to ban him from football activities.
Despite Nyantakyi’s bid for political office in the Ejisu Constituency by-elections, Tiger Eye P.I. asserted that he is attempting to rehabilitate his reputation despite ongoing legal proceedings related to his actions in the “Number 12” documentary.
Ultimately, Tiger Eye P.I. emphasized that Nyantakyi’s eligibility for political office should be decided by the New Patriotic Party and the constituents of Ejisu, considering his misuse of power during histenure at the GFA.
Read the full statement from Tiger Eye P.I below
UNVEILING THE PLOT: THE NYANTAKYI BRIBERY SAGA
1. Tiger Eye P.I. has recently been made aware of an allegation concerning the payment of a bribe by the disgraced former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, to lawyer(s) purportedly representing renowned undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. The alleged purpose of this bribe was to prevent the publication of the famous Number12 documentary, which focused on corrupt practices within African football.
2. Numerous media outlets have reported on Mr. Nyantakyi’s confession, wherein he claims to have paid a sum of $100,000 as a bribe to Anas’s lawyer by name, Kwame Gyan, a lecturer at University of Ghana.
3. Tiger Eye P.I. and Anas Aremeyaw Anas categorically deny any involvement in soliciting or accepting bribes from Kwesi Nyantakyi prior to the publication of the documentary. The core mission of Tiger Eye and Anas is to expose and confront corruption, making the notion of shielding corrupt individuals utterly preposterous given the extensive resources and efforts invested in producing such exposés.
4. It should be noted that neither Tiger Eye P.I. nor Anas Aremeyaw Anas engaged the services of a lawyer named Kwame Gyan from the University of Ghana. At all material times, including before, during, and after the production of the Number12 documentary, Tiger Eye and Anas have exclusively retained the legal representation of CromwellGray LLP, situated in Cantonments, Accra. CromwellGray LLP has consistently acted as legal counsel for Anas in matters relating to litigation initiated by or against journalistic publications involving Anas.
5. Tiger Eye P.I. unequivocally asserts that any purported criminal arrangement between Mr. Nyantakyi and any alleged lawyer remains solely between Mr. Nyantakyi and the purported recipient. Tiger Eye P.I. firmly denies any involvement or knowledge of such activities. Should Mr. Nyantakyi’s claims hold substance, we challenge him to pursue legal action against Lawyer Kwame Gyan, including lodging a petition with the General Legal Council, to substantiate his allegations.
6. Mr. Nyantakyi’s assumption that such a priceless exposé, which had long been advertised by BBC, could be shelved by simply ‘paying’ a $100,000 bribe is not only shocking but also indicative of naivety. Tiger Eye underscores its robust internal mechanisms in place, making it difcult for any individual to alter or suppress an investigation.
7. Mr. Nyantakyi, by his admission, is a self-confessed bribe-giver, and a bribe-taker for attempting to bribe his way out of a painstaking investigation into his conduct. Per his self-confessed bribery attempt, Mr. Nyantakyi has proven that the life-ban from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for conflict of interest and bribery offences provided for by FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) was justified.
8. Presently, Mr. Nyantakyi remains a subject of a ban from all football-related activities, both domestically and internationally. Additionally, he faces ongoing criminal trial for corruption and fraud at the High Court in Accra. Mr. Nyantakyi’s desperation to evade accountability could only happen after the murder of the key witness for the state, Ahmed Suale, after his face was shown on national televsion. A day before his assasination, Mr. Suale was in conference with state prosecutors over the criminal trial of Nyantakyi.
9. Anas Aremeyaw Anas, now a crucial witness for the state, has opted not to testify following a Supreme Court ruling mandating him to show his face to Mr. Nyantakyi and his legal team. Anas perceives this as a significant risk to his personal safety. However, should the Supreme Court grant permission for his testimony without disclosing his identity, Anas is prepared to cooperate fully as a witness for the state.
10. Tiger Eye P.I. observes that the reiteration of these allegations initially surfaced through Mariam, the wife of Kwesi Nyantakyi. Her subsequent silence ensued following challenges to provide substantiating evidence for her claims.
11. It is noted that Mr. Nyantakyi appears to be endeavouring to restore his credibility, presumably with aspirations to contest as a parliamentary candidate for the Ejisu constituency under the New Patriotic Party. However, Tiger Eye P.I. asserts its independence from such endeavours.
The decision regarding Mr. Nyantakyi’s eligibility rests with the NPP and the constituents of Ejisu. Nonetheless, it’s imperative to emphasise that Tiger Eye P.I. conducted a thorough investigation, leading to Mr. Nyantakyi’s conviction and subsequent ban from football activities due to bribery, conflict of interest.
12. Tiger Eye remains committed to exposing crime and graft in Ghana and beyond.
The complete certified true copy of a judgment rendered by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, has been issued.
Despite announcing a 3-2 majority decision against investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas‘ certiorari application challenging a damning 2023 High Court ruling, the court had delayed its full ruling.
The apex court, through its ruling, dismissed Anas’s application to reverse a lower court’s decision that dismissed his defamation lawsuit against Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong.
Previously, the High Court ruled in favor of Mr Agyapong, characterizing Anas’ journalistic approach as “investigative terrorism” rather than legitimate journalism.
Following this decision, Anas sought to contest the High Court’s ruling at the Supreme Court, expressing concerns regarding the judge’s jurisdiction and potential biases.
Justices Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Samuel Asiedu concurred with the Chief Justice in rejecting Anas’ appeal, whereas Justices Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu and Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi dissented.
The verdict represents a significant milestone in the legal dispute between Anas and Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, which commenced in 2018.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has stated that he cannot disclose his identity to Kwasi Nyantakyi if he is expected to testify as a witness against the former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president.
Anas explained that revealing his identity to the accused could jeopardize his security and be akin to “signing his death warrant.”
Following Anas’ documentary titled “#Number 12 Exposé,” which uncovered bribery and corruption in Ghana’s football, Nyantakyi was banned by FIFA and subsequently charged. However, the trial has yet to commence since June 29, 2021, almost three years after Nyantakyi pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud by agent and corruption related to the exposé.
Nyantakyi is also facing a charge of conspiracy to commit fraud with the former Northern Regional Representative of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan.
The Principal State Attorney, Duffie Prempeh, informed the Court presided over by Justice Marie-Louise that their first witness, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has expressed concerns about his personal safety, stating that it would not be appropriate for him to reveal his identity to the accused persons.
In response to the Court’s ruling that Anas would reveal the accused persons and their lawyers in the chambers of the Court before testifying in open court in a mask, the prosecution has indicated that they will appeal this decision.
“My Lady respectfully, we are expected to bring our witness today, (Wednesday February 28),” the PSA told the Court.
“However, following your ruling on our application regarding the mode of testimony of our witness, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the Attorney General extended an invitation to the witness to avail himself for pre-trial conference and ultimately to present his testimony in Court,” she said.
The Principal State Attorney also informed the Court that the investigative journalist stated that disclosing his identity to testify for the Prosecution would amount to signing his death warrant.
“My Lady, in response to our letter, Anas indicated that given the danger to his personal safety, it will not be proper for him to disclose his identity to the Accused persons their counsel.
“Anas Aremeyaw Anas is convinced that by virtue of the nature of his work, disclosing his identity will be tantamount to signing his death warrant.
“He indicated further that his colleague, Ahmed Suale was gunned down after an engagement with the law office. My Lady, he said that the State Security has been withdrawn,” The Principal State Attorney stated.
“He has therefore impressed upon us to appeal this Court’s decision which we have done. But the appeal is not ripe for hearing.
“We are therefore pleading with the Court to grant us enough time to pursue our appeal to its logical conclusion in the interest of justice.
“My Lady for the sake of coherence, it will be proper to start with Anas because with the other witnesses, it was just a conversation that happened prior to the event so they did not witness the event that occurred. My Lady, that is our humble prayer,” the PSA prayed to the Court.
Lawyer Baffour Gyau Bonsu Ashia, representing the accused persons, requested that the criminal suit be dismissed due to lack of prosecution and that the accused persons be discharged. He argued that despite several opportunities given to the prosecution to prepare their case, they have failed to do so.
“My Lady, it is our humble prayer that the criminal suit against the Accused persons be struck out for want of prosecution.
“My Lady, the basis of this prayer is that my Lady has indulged the Prosecution on numerous occasions for the Prosecution to put their house in order and open their case,” Counsel submitted.
While pointing to an appeal filed by the Prosecution, Mr Ashia said, “the State filed an appeal against this Court’s decision and brought a Stay of Proceedings which was dismissed.”
“My Lady, as we speak for almost five (5) months now, nothing has been done about the appeal, we have not been told that the record has been transmitted to the Appellate Court, we have also not been told that Form 6 has been issued for the appeal to be heard,” Counsel argued.
He said, the criminal trial which hangs on the necks of the Accused persons, has led to their lives coming to a standstill ever since they were presented before the Court.
“My Lady, striking this matter out does not mean that the matter has been heard on its merits.
“They can always come back if they want. Life must go on. It is our humble prayer that they have four (4) other witnesses, it is not just the witnesses from Tamale.
“They have the Investigator who is seized with all the facts, he did the investigations, they can call him but they have failed to do so.
“In this circumstance, we humbly pray that this Court exercises its discretion and strike out this matter,” Counsel submitted.
April ultimatum
Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, the presiding judge said, though nothing inhibits the Court from striking out the case, the Court will grant the Prosecution sometime up to April you do the needful.
The Court said, if by April, no meaningful steps have been taken in their appeal, the accused persons would be discharged.
“I have heard and considered the submissions made by both counsel this morning. Indeed there should have been no inhibition on my part to strike out the case.
“It is most clear that the Prosecution is not ready to prosecute the case now.
“Their failure to call other witnesses who have been listed seems surprising. It does not matter how minimal the role of each witness is to a trial, once the witness would contribute to a part of an element to be proved in a criminal charge, that witness would be important and can be called.
“I am however reluctant to strike out the case now because of the pending appeal against the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
“I am eager to receive the response of the Court of Appeal on the ruling.
“In the circumstance, notwithstanding the dismissal of the Stay of Proceedings filed earlier by the Prosecution, I would have the case adjourned to April. I am aware that I should not adjourn a criminal trial beyond a month but I will make an exception to this rule.
“I will allow the Accused persons some breathing space while we see the next step taken by the Prosecution at pursuing this appeal against the ruling,” the Court said.
“If by April, no meaningful steps have been taken in the Appeal, the two (2) the Accused persons will be discharged.
The Supreme Court has upheld a previous ruling by the High Court and rejected investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s application for certiorari against Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.
The five-member panel, led by Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, upheld the High Court’s decision from six years ago.
At that time, the High Court dismissed a GHC25 million defamation lawsuit brought by Anas Aremeyaw Anas against Kennedy Agyapong and imposed a cost of GHC50,000 on the journalist.
Anas had alleged that the lawmaker defamed him, leading to legal proceedings initiated in 2018. In a majority decision on Wednesday, February 28, the Supreme Court dismissed the case.
Despite the request from Kennedy Agyapong’s lawyer for costs to be awarded against Anas, the Supreme Court declined to do so.
The judge overseeing the defamation lawsuit brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas against Member of Parliament Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has characterized Anas as “a blackmailer who employs blackmail to extract money from his adversaries and individuals he holds animosity towards.”
Speaking about Anas’ work as an investigative journalist, the judge added that “What the plaintiff is doing is not investigative journalism but investigative terrorism”.
“From the above, I hold that the plaintiff is a blackmailer who uses blackmail to extort money from his opponents and people he does not like.
“What the plaintiff is doing is not investigative journalism but investigative terrorism,” the presiding judge, who awarded cost of GH¢50,000 against Anas said.
The host of “Good Evening Ghana,” Paul Adom Otchere, has alleged that investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas admitted to making money through the dissemination of ‘lies’ and ‘tips’ while engaging with German children.
This revelation, as per Adom-Otchere, raises concerns about the credibility of Anas’ journalistic work.
During one of his shows, Adom-Otchere accused Anas of prioritizing financial gain over ethical journalism practices, suggesting that the journalist’s commitment to the truth may be compromised.
Anas has earned worldwide recognition for his undercover investigations, unveiling corruption and wrongdoing in diverse sectors.
Adom-Otchere, however, claims that Anas is driven by excessive greed and questions the motivations behind some of his high-profile investigations.
In addition to targeting Anas, Adom-Otchere extended similar allegations to the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.
He labeled both Mr Agyebeng and Anas as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and deemed them “wicked people.”
“That day that Kissi Agyebeng was made special prosecutor, we should all have atoned for our sins and begged God for mercy on Ghana, praying that such wicked people no longer hold positions of influence. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, wicked people—they don’t inspire anything; they are just greedy. May the Lord forgive them,” he added.
Adom-Otchere suggested that the day Mr Agyebeng assumed the role of Special Prosecutor should have been a moment for collective introspection and repentance for the nation, expressing concerns about such allegedly unscrupulous individuals holding influential positions.
Adom-Otchere concluded by asserting that the partnership between Kissi Agyebeng and Anas involves fabricating lies to tarnish the images of individuals for financial gain.
Host of “Good Evening Ghana,” Paul Adom-Otchere, has raised questions about the integrity of investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
In a recent episode of his show, Adom-Otchere passionately expressed his grievances against Anas, renowned for his undercover investigative work that has exposed corruption and wrongdoing across various sectors.
Adom-Otchere accused Anas of harboring excessive greed and questioned the journalist’s motivations behind some of his high-profile investigations.
His disapproval extended to Anas’s methods and approach in conducting undercover investigations, with Adom-Otchere alleging that the journalist prioritizes financial gains over ethical journalism practices.
Furthermore, Adom-Otchere leveled similar accusations at the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, claiming that both Kissi Agyebeng and Anas are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and “wicked people.”
He suggested that the day Mr Agyebeng was appointed as Special Prosecutor should have been a moment for collective introspection and repentance for the nation’s sins.
Adom-Otchere remarked, “That day that Kissi Agyebeng was made special prosecutor, we should all have atoned for our sins and begged God for mercy on Ghana, praying that such wicked people no longer hold positions of influence. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, wicked people—they don’t inspire anything; they are just greedy. May the Lord forgive them.”
He added that the duo, Kissi Agyebeng and Anas, are working together to fabricate lies and tarnish the image of individuals for financial gains.
He specifically called on the Special Prosecutor to clear the name of the former president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Mr Nyantakyi was removed from his position following allegations of fraud and corruption, as documented in Anas’s investigative exposé known as “Number 12.”
The documentary purportedly reveals Nyantakyi accepting cash and gifts, as well as engaging in influence peddling.
In one segment, Mr Nyantakyi was heard stating, “I have the president [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] in my pocket” during discussions about a potentially lucrative deal with individuals posing as ‘fake Arabs’ in Dubai.
Subsequent to the documentary’s release, the president ordered Mr Nyantakyi’s arrest to facilitate an investigation into the actions captured on tape.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas is urging the public to approach the controversies surrounding the late T.B. Joshua from a human rights perspective rather than solely as a religious matter.
His comments follow the release of a BBC documentary revealing alleged abuses within the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), led by the lateProphet TB Joshua.
The documentary brings to light instances of sexual abuse, rape allegations, and manipulations of miracles within the SCOAN. Anas emphasized in an interview with Arise News that the primary focus should be on the documented cases of abuse rather than religion.
“I think that the major takeaway from this documentary is the level of abuse we’ve all seen in the film. And I don’t want us to look at this with the lenses of religion.
It is a pure human rights abuse story that all of us as journalists have been doing and what you have is the situation where girls have been raped, sexually abused and manipulations of miracles and others. its about time we say no to these things, we stand firm and say it as it is to let people know what the real story is,” he said.
“I don’t think this is an attack on the church; I have emphasised that we are not here to talk about religion; we are here to talk about human rights abuses. We have done stories on human rights abuses, and this is not any different from the stories we do. I think that if there is something wrong, we should have the courage as journalists to be able to tell it as it is.
“The death of a person does not mean that the issue is dead. There are equally important and many poor people who have suffered as a result of these atrocities.
“We talk about Hitler today; he is dead but we still talk about the atrocities and the human rights abuses he meted out to people,” he added.
Ace Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, is set shake the country with another explosive documentary.
In a tweet on Thursday, December 14, 2023, Mr Azure said the piece will shake the core of the Akufo-Addo led administration.
“What started as an open-minded documentary to investigate what was being done to curtail revenue losses in one sector is turning out to be the biggest scandal to hit the Akufo-Addo presidency.
“The cure is worse than the disease, like acid being used to treat mild sore throat. Stay tuned! Anyway, can you guess the ministry or minister involved?” he added.
AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ****************************************** What started as an open-minded documentary to investigate what was being done to curtail revenue losses in one sector is turning out to be the biggest scandal to hit the Akufo-Addo presidency. pic.twitter.com/ZLDqSuFYkS
This comes after his colleague Undercover Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, announced the premiere of another documentary, which has been scheduled to be released in January, 2024.
Anas made the revelation at the Disruptionlab Network Event in Germany where he and Stephanie Busari of CNN had a discussion on the role of the undercover journalist in combating organized crime in Africa.
He said the project, which focuses on organised crime syndicates in Ghana, will be shocking and gory.
Speaking on his latest project, Anas Aremeyaw Anas said the documentary will be shown on BBC Africa Eye.
Former President John Evan Atta-Mills’ name popped up in Berlin last month during a Disrupt Lab event in Germany which featured Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Speaking on some of his investigative works, Mr Aremeyaw recounted efforts by the late President to combat smuggling of Cocoa outside Ghana.
“My late President John Atta-Mills, he tasked the state security agencies to ensure that Cocoa which is the major export produced in Ghana should not be stolen.
“He had tasked the security agencies there to ensure that people smuggling Ghana’s Cocoa out of the country are arrested but what did the security agencies do? They arrived and rather assisted the people to stab the nation in the back,” he said.
Mr Aremeyaw said he and his team of investigative journalists exposed this rot and eventually, it led to the arrest of the culprits.
One of the many cases investigated by Tiger Eye investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, includes the killing of babies born with deformities in the northern part of the country over fear of them being evil, also known as filicide.
During a Disrupt Lab event in Germany, Anas shared portions of the investigations, which were recorded and put together as a film titled “Spirit Child.”
This film talks about how children born with deformities are either abandoned or given up by their parents for killing in some evil forest.
According to Anas, he heard of such a circumstance happening in the northern part of the country.
“When I heard this, I was worried because I also come from the northern part of Ghana. I could be a victim of such killings. So then again, I went undercover with my evidence,” he said.
The investigative team built a prosthetic baby from London, which was taken to a ‘soothsayer.’
“I took the prosthetic baby and I gave it to the soothsayer and after some incantations, he said the child that we all know was a prothetic baby, was evil and that the child was sent into the earth to create problems in the society,” Anas said.
A day was set for the baby to be examined, and the prosthetic child was put on a bed in a room filled with cameras.
The Area Crime officer and two of his colleagues monitored the scene in a different room. After assessment, the individuals decided to take the baby away and kill it. Before they could leave the premises, the police intercepted and arrested them.
Anas noted that during his investigations, he encountered 14 individuals who admitted to killing spirit children. He said they were willing to poison the prosthetic baby.
For Anas, a major part of the work he does is targeted at transforming society and reshaping the wrong that has been passed on from one generation to another.
“So part of the work is to challenge superstition in our society. To challenge the beliefs and educate people so they can understand that some of the old practices that we engage in, that lead to the death of babies are unacceptable,” he said.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, is of the assertion that his kind of investigative journalism addresses important issues in the context of Ghana’s societal and political landscape.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas, known for his unconventional style of investigative journalism, has consistently focused on anti-corruption and human rights/social justice in his journalistic endeavors. Despite the risks and opposition from some public officials, he remains committed to his work.
According to Anas, he remains unwavering because his services go a long way toward making the Ghanaian community better than it was before.
“It is very easy for people to critique my type of journalism but look I’m a product of my society. And the journalism I produce is the exact journalism is required for my society. I have no qualms with people who go on sermonizing, fantasizing and trying to define journalism.
“I’ve always said there is no point in doing journalism if it doesn’t benefit your society. I’ve been called that journalist who does not respect the laws of journalism because of a very simple reason. People think that they have to define journalism in a different way and people like us ought to follow that definition,” he said.
Anas made these comments during a Disrupt Lab event in Germany. He also used the opportunity to address the topic of death and whether he harbors fear given the nature of his job. Anas was asked directly, “Are you afraid to die?” In response, he expressed that his faith as a Muslim and unwavering conviction provide him with a grounded perspective on the matter of death.
“Fear, I was purged of fear long ago and I am a Muslim, I believe that if you die, you are dead and gone and that it is Allah’s will that you should die.
“And if there is anything I hate, it is that I don’t want to die a coward. I want to die fighting for the right things in society,” he stressed.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas has frequently faced threats to his life and the safety of those close to him due to the nature of his work. Unfortunately, his team, Tiger Eye PI, has yet to receive definitive answers regarding the death of one of their key investigators, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was fatally shot in 2019.
This tragic incident occurred months after the release of Anas’ investigative film ‘Number 13,’ which uncovered corruption in football politics at local, national, and continental levels.
Meanwhile, Anas has recently teased the release of a compelling documentary in January 2024, keeping the subject matter undisclosed. The most recent release before this announcement was the second part of a documentary addressing illegal small-scale mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
Celebrated investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has publicly articulated his unwavering commitment to fearlessly pursue truth.
Speaking at the Disrupt Lab event in Germany, Anas declared that he is not afraid to die.
“Fear, I was purged of fear long ago and I am a Muslim. I believe that if you die, you are dead and gone and that it is Allah’s will that you should die,” he noted.
He also stated that one thing he fears is to die without making any impact.
“And if there is anything I hate, it is that I don’t want to die a coward. I want to die fighting for the right things in society,” he stressed.
The style of journalism practiced by Anas has frequently resulted in threats on his life and on individuals close to him.
His investigative team, Tiger Eye PI, has not yet received conclusive answers regarding the death of one of its crucial members, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was fatally shot in 2019.
The demise occurred several months following the release of the ‘Number 13’ documentary, which uncovered corruption in football politics at the local, national, and continental levels.
Anas has traditionally focused his work on anti-corruption, as well as human rights and social justice issues.
He recently suggested that he would unveil a startling documentary in January 2024, but has maintained silence regarding the specific subject matter of the film.
His most recent release was the second installment of a documentary on illegal small-scale mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has addressed the topic of death and whether he harbors fear given the nature of his job.
During the Disrupt Lab event in Germany, Anas was asked directly, “Are you afraid to die?” In response, he expressed that his faith as a Muslim and unwavering conviction provide him with a grounded perspective on the matter of death.
“Fear, I was purged of fear long ago and I am a Muslim, I believe that if you die, you are dead and gone and that it is Allah’s will that you should die.
“And if there is anything I hate, it is that I don’t want to die a coward. I want to die fighting for the right things in society,” he stressed.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas, known for his impactful investigative journalism, has frequently faced threats to his life and the safety of those close to him due to the nature of his work. Unfortunately, his team, Tiger Eye PI, has yet to receive definitive answers regarding the death of one of their key investigators, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was fatally shot in 2019.
This tragic incident occurred months after the release of Anas’ investigative film ‘Number 13,’ which uncovered corruption in football politics at local, national, and continental levels.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas has consistently focused on anti-corruption and human rights/social justice in his journalistic endeavors. Despite the risks, he remains committed to his work.
He has recently teased the release of a compelling documentary in January 2024, keeping the subject matter undisclosed. The most recent release before this announcement was the second part of a documentary addressing illegal small-scale mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has teased an upcoming exposé set to be released in January 2024.
The investigative piece is expected to be both shocking and grim, and Anas expressed his own disturbance by revealing that he had to abruptly leave the screening in the middle of the film and never returned.
The video hinting at the upcoming exposé was shared by GraphicOnline.
He emphasized the severity of the revelations by stating, “People can be evil.”
Anas Aremeyaw Anas has indicated that the forthcoming exposé is scheduled for release on BBC Africa Eye, suggesting a global impact as it airs on the world service.
“Which is likely to be released on the BBC in January shocked me and I can tell you, get ready for a shocker on the BBC Africa eye.
“It will go globally; it will play on the world service. But even me, when I saw the film and I got to the middle, I got out and went away because the scenes are gory, people can be evil,” he shared.
The investigative journalist has a history of unveiling high-profile exposés that have had significant social and political implications in Ghana and beyond.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas is a renowned investigative journalist from Ghana who gained international recognition for his undercover exposés.
His dedication to uncovering corruption and promoting justice has earned him both praise and criticism. Anas has maintained anonymity throughout his career, raising ethical questions about journalistic accountability.
Despite this, his work has had a significant impact, shedding light on critical issues and sparking discussions on transparency and accountability. His upcoming exposé, scheduled for release on BBC Africa Eye, is expected to continue his tradition of impactful investigative journalism.
Get ready for 'shocker' on organised crime in Jan 2024, 'the scenes are gory, people can be evil' – Anas [VIDEO] https://t.co/r7tufBTNc9
A presidential hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Agyapong, has boasted about being the only person in Ghana to have challenged the renowned investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
Speaking to members of the NPP at the Berekum East Constituency in the Bono Region, Ken Agyapong claimed that he saved the party from the clutches of Anas.
He alleged that Anas had recorded some NPP leaders in Dubai and was planning to use the footage to blackmail them and prevent them from seeking a second term in 2020.
He added that Anas had put a lot of Ghanaians, including politicians, civil servants and security officials, into hiding with his exposés, but he (Ken) had silenced him.
“When Anas recorded NPP leaders in Dubai, February 8, 2018, (4:30 pm Dubai time) and he was bragging that he (Anas) had the NPP in his hands like an egg and that he would not allow the party to go for a second term.
“He (Anas) silenced judges, soldiers, police officers, officers of the GFA (Ghana Football Association), every Ghanaian was afraid. I’m the only man in this country who challenged Anas. Today, I have silenced him.
Ken Agyapong, who is also the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, said that Ghanaians trust him because of his handling of Anas, among other things.
He urged the NPP supporters to choose him as their flagbearer for the 2024 elections.
“If I had not challenged Anas, he would have gotten so much power that at some point, he would be determining when people should go to sleep. It took only Kennedy Agyapong to challenge Anas. And so, Ghanaians believe in me,” he said.
So far, ten people in the NPP have filed nominations to contest in the yet-to-be-held presidential primaries.
Candidates include Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia; a former Trade Minister, Alan Kyerematen; Kwadwo Poku, an energy expert; Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joe Ghartey; a former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; a former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong; MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong; a former MP for Offinso North, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku; and a former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko.
Defamation suit
The Accra High Court recently dismissed a GH¢25 million defamation suit against Ken Agyapong brought by Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The investigative journalist sued the MP in 2018 for allegedly making false and defamatory statements about him after he released his investigative piece #Number 12, which exposed some rot in Ghana football.
The court presided over by Justice Eric Baah ruled that although the words spoken by the MP were factual and capable of defamation, Anas could not prove them.
The court also described Anas as an “investigative terrorist” who uses blackmail to extort money from his opponents and people he does not like.
The MP has hailed the ruling as a victory for straight talk over investigative terrorism, while Anas has expressed grave misgivings about it and described it as a travesty of justice.
Following his dismissal from the Circuit Court in the aftermath of Anas Aremeyaw Anas‘ undercover investigation into the judiciary, a Circuit Court judge has received a favorable judgment overturning his dismissal from the Court of Appeal.
Judge Benjamin Yaw Osei, who was filmed by undercover investigtors at Juabeng, his station at the time, was part of 20 lower court judges dismissed after a Judicial Service process.
Anas’ charge against him was that he had freed an accused person after receiving bribes from them.
His lawyers, however, argued before the three-member Court of Appeal panel that contrary to the allegations made in the video, the accused person had actually been convicted and imprisoned.
The panel presided over by Justice Senyo Dzamefe on Thursday, June 22, thus, reversed an earlier high court judgment against the appellant.
The judgment means he may be reinstated as a judge.
A judge who was among the group dismissed following the Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposé has achieved a favorable judgment at the Court of Appeal, overturning the previous decision.
Benjamin Yaw Osei, who served as a judge at the Juabeng Circuit Court during the time of the investigation into judicial corruption, was one of the 20 judges from lower courts who faced dismissal in 2015.
The allegation was that he freed an accused person after receiving bribes from them.
Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood established a “prima facie case of stated misbehaviour against them”, a statement by Ghana’s Judicial Council said.
But his lawyers have been arguing that the allegation is not accurate because the accused person has actually been convicted and imprisoned.
Today, a 3-member panel of the Court of Appeal presided over by Justice Senyo Dzamefe overturned the earlier high court judgment against the appellant.
The recent ruling in his favor signifies a significant development in his case. However, specific details regarding the judgment and its implications were not provided.
The judgment means he may be reinstated as a judge.
Charles Bissue, the former Secretary of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), has withdrawn one of his three cases against the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP).
The case in question involved Mr. Bissue requesting the court to either halt the OSP’s investigations or include investigative journalist Anas Aremyaw Anas as a suspect. He also sought to restrain the OSP from arresting him. The OSP launched an investigation following a documentary by Anas Aremyaw, in which Mr. Bissue was allegedly filmed accepting bribes.
During the court proceedings, Nana Kojo Pintoh Gyabi, a member of Mr. Bissue’s legal team, informed the court of their decision to discontinue the case. Dr. Isidore Tufuor, the Director of Prosecution at the OSP, expressed no opposition to the application.
“This is their own application, if they intend to withdraw same, we are not opposed to it” he stated.
The court, therefore, struck out the case as withdrawn. This development comes barely a day after Mr. Bissue was arrested and granted bail by the OSP. There are currently two other cases filed by Mr. Bissue pending at the courts against the OSP.
One is a human rights action in which he alleges his rights have been abused with the other is the action in which he challenges the authority of the investigative body to probe him when the matter has been handled by the police already.
Director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John Kwakye, has cautioned investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anasagainst setting up people to commit crimes in a way to expose them.
Dr Kwakye says setting people up to commit a crime is unacceptable and should be condemned.
His comments come after Anas said that he would be releasing a documentary on corruption in Ghana before the 2024 general elections.
Anas said this exposé will shake the foundation of the country.
He said these while answering questions in an interview on whether Anas was a ‘terrorist’ as was recently said by a High Court judge.
Anas defended his methods and talked about corruption in Africa.
He said “The work that I am doing now might be the last before we get into the [2024] elections. But already the signs are very clear and I can tell you that the foundation would be shaken once again.”
“There are a couple of international ones that are about to be released. But this one, talking to you as a Ghanaian, I mean the foundation of Ghana would be shaken,” he is reported to have said.
Commenting on this in a tweet, Dr Kwakye said “If Anas isn’t interested in cashing in on the elections, he should wait to publish his documentary after not before.
“Anas shouldn’t think that he can hold the whole country to ransom. No one is without blemish in this world. He himself isn’t an angel. Anas should work to catch people who commit actual crimes. He shouldn’t set people up to commit crimes. That’s unacceptable and should be condemned.
Renowned investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has refuted allegations by some Ghanaians, including former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu, that he extorts money from people implicated in his corruption exposés.
Martin Amidu, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, described Anas as an ‘anti-corruption entrepreneur’ who makes money out of exposing corruption.
Reacting to this in an interview on DW Africa monitored by GhanaWeb on June 19, 2023, Anas said that he has never engaged in any corrupt activity.
He added that he would not be walking as a free man if any of the allegations against him were true.
“I have dealt with this matter before… Martin Amidu is a senior citizen of Ghana. Me and him have disagreed on this issue publicly, and it is fair. I respect his comment.
“But here I am sitting here, talking to you… Nobody has ever caught me in a bribery scandal. So, like I said, it is fair. He can describe me as he wants.
“Even before Martin Amidu, Atlantic Magazine wrote about me, and they described me as a spy and about 10 other descriptions,” he said.
Anas, however, noted that the criticisms from Martin Amidu are welcomed because they are important in shaping Ghana’s democracy.
“The point is that how does that push the frontiers of our democracy? And I encourage people like Martin, let them stick out their necks, let them talk, let them all make their opinions clear.
“At the end of the day, I know what I’m doing, I am focused on it, and I can tell you, there will be several liberal dossiers of my journalism over a period of time,” he said.
What Martin Amidu said?
The former Special Prosecutor said that Anas lives in the fear of his own shadow as an “anti-corruption entrepreneur” and not a genuine anti-corruption crusader.
In an article on the decision by Justice Eric Baah’s High Court to dismiss a GHS 25 million defamation suit filed by the investigative journalist against Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong, Amidu said that Anas may have shot himself in the foot by using a power of attorney to file the suit instead of doing that himself due to his fear of his real identity being exposed.
“The rule against the admissibility of hearsay evidence is statutory. Anas A. Anas, the plaintiff, put himself in a situation of being incapable of giving relevant and primary evidence in person and being cross-examined because he lives in the fear of his own shadow as an anti-corruption entrepreneur and not as a genuine anti-corruption crusader.
“Anas A. Anas thus lost the only opportunity to publicly tell the court his version of the facts within his personal knowledge and to be cross-examined to establish his credibility. Genuine anti-corruption crusaders do not hide their faces behind masks,” he wrote.
Prominent investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has revealed his plans to unveil a documentary that will have a profound impact on Ghana.
Anas stated that the documentary, focused on certain politicians in the country, will be released before the 2024 elections. He emphasized that significant effort has gone into its production, which is why he hasn’t released any work on Ghana in recent months.
During an interview with DW Africa, the renowned journalist expressed his determination to shake the foundation of Ghana with this upcoming investigative piece.
“The work that I am doing now might be the last before we get into the elections. But already the signs are very clear and I can tell you that the foundation would be shaken once again.
“There are a couple of international ones that are about to be released. But this one talking to you as a Ghanaian, I mean the foundation of Ghana would be shaken,” he said.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas acknowledged that he is taking thorough measures with the upcoming documentary to ensure its impact is similar to his previous work, which resulted in the removal of former Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles Ade Boahen.
However, it is worth noting that Anas has faced criticism from a segment of the public recently, particularly following his unsuccessful defamation lawsuit against Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong.
In the defamation case, the Accra High Court judge criticized Anas, accusing him of engaging in “investigative terrorism” rather than investigative journalism.
Furthermore, Anas faced backlash for his documentary titled ‘Galamsey Economy,’ which implicated Charles Adu Boahen and allegedly led to his dismissal. Some critics accused Anas of entrapping the former minister.
Reports indicate that, Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for the Assin Central constituency, has allegedly provided a grader to Adolf Tetteh Adjei, a businessman who has been served a court order to demolish buildings on his land.
These structures were claimed to have been illegally erected by Anas Aremeyaw Anas, an investigative journalist.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas
The court ruling concluded that Anas’s constructions should be demolished to restore the landowner’s rightful access to his property, as the buildings were deemed to have been unlawfully erected.
Responding to the court’s decision in an interview with Okay FM on May 19, 2023, Kennedy Agyapong’s brother cum lawyerargued that Anas’s actions constituted a criminal offence, asserting that constructing on land that does not belong to an individual is against the law and that the MP has offered the businessman a grader to carry out the demolition.
“When you steal someone’s land and build on it, it is a criminal offence …can you just go and steal someone’s land and build on it? It is a criminal offence, so, the court was right, they said he should demolish it, Ken even says that he will give him a grader if he doesn’t have one.
Kennedy Agyapong
“He has volunteered a grader to demolish the whole building, you see, he (Anas) took the law into his hands like he is a tin god, so the time that the case was still pending in court he used his own powers to build, but you Anas who are you? To go and build on the land.
And the Adolf guy is also not that easy person, he is a very powerful guy… he can’t negotiate anything with him, if he is listening to me, he should demolish the building…there was even an injunction and he (Anas) thought he is a tin god, so he went ahead, who born dog?” he said
He went further to criticize Anas’s conduct, claiming that he had taken the law into his own hands and proceeded with construction while the case was still pending in court.
A glass factory located at Tse-Ado, a suburb of Accra; and a set of apartments built and owned by Anas is set to be demolished by court order.
A court recently ruled that the journalist had proceeded with construction on a disputed land despite a court order asking him to put the project on hold until the land dispute is resolved.
Following a final judgment on the land which didn’t go in favour of Anas, the land owner, Adolf Tetteh Adjei has been given the go-ahead to pull down the structures and projects of Anas on the site.
The judge who presided over the land case, Justice Kwame Gyamfi Osei, awarded GHC100,000 to Adolf Tetteh Adjei saying the land owner should use the amount for demolition instead of Anas Aremeyaw Anas doing the demolition himself.
Following the ruling, Anas is said to have made several attempts to now negotiate with the land owner and pay for the full cost of the land so that his factory and apartments are not pulled down.
However, Adolf Tetteh Adjei has said he is not interested in selling the land to Anas after the journalist used land guards and police to terrorize him for many years before he proceeded to court.
According to MyNewsGh.com sources, the factory is a project Anas reportedly collaborated with someChinese investors to construct at a time the land was in dispute.
Award-winning investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has withdrawn from testifying as a witness in the case against former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, following a recent ruling by the High Court in Accra.
Though court granted permission for Anas to testify wearing a mask in open court, there is still the condition of unveiling his face to the defendant Kwesi Nyantakyi in the judge’s chamber before testifying.
According to Anas. the set condition is inimical to his safety and security considering the fact his associate the late Ahmed Suale was a victim assassination over the same case.
The decision was announced in a statement by Tiger Eye P.I, the investigative firm led by Anas, which expressed concerns about the potential risks to his safety and security.
“As much as Anas is willing and ready to testify for the prosecution, doing so under the condition specified by the court presents a clear and present danger to his security and safety, especially because of the issues chronicled above,” Tiger Eye said in the statement dated Thursday, May 18, 2023.
The company emphasized that Anas’s request for his face to remain hidden stemmed from his role as an undercover agent and the risk that revealing his identity would bring to his safety and security.
“It should be recalled that the late Ahmed Hussein Suale, a star witness in this case, was assassinated in broad daylight in 2019. His assassination occurred on the same day that he had engagements with the Attorney General’s office on his testimony against the accused person in the above-styled case,” the firm said.
“Prior to his gruesome murder, the late Ahmed Suale had been threatened with death by Mr. Kwesi Nyantakyi and had been the subject of callous media attacks for his role as a star witness in the case, culminating in the revealing of his identity on national television and social media by Mr. Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin-Central constituency,” the firm added.
The company further stated that it endorses the position taken by Anas as “it is proper and wise to err on the side of caution to avoid any potential attack on another of its investigators.”
“Tiger Eye’s position is further buttressed by the unrelenting, coordinated, and well-financed media and other campaigns by private and state actors to undermine its operations and the Anas principle, which stand in their way of amassing corruption and social injustice,” it added.
Tiger Eye, however, noted that it remains steadfast in its resolve to fight against corruption.
Read the full statement by Tiger Eye below:
18 May 2023 | PRESS RELEASE
NYANTAKYI AND LAWYERS TO SEE ANAS’S FACE BEFORE COURT PROCEEDINGS RE: REPUBLIC V. KWESI NYANTAKYI AND ANOTHER
1.Tiger Eye P.I has taken notice of the ruling by the High Court sitting in Accra to allow undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify wearing mask in open court on condition that he shows his face to the accused person in the judges’ chambers first.
2.Anas had earlier agreed to testify as a witness for the prosecution in the above styled case after Ahmed Hussein Suale was gruesomely murdered, on condition that his identity is protected.
3.Anas’s request for the protection of his identity stems from his role as an undercover agent and the real and elevated risk that revealing his identity to the accused person will severely compromise his physical security and personal safety.
4.It should be recalled that the late Ahmed Hussein Suale, a star witness in this case, was assassinated in broad daylight in 2019. His assassination occurred on the same day that he had had engagements with the Attorney General’s office on his testimony against the accused person in above styled case.
5.Prior to his gruesome murder, the late Ahmed Suale had been threatened with death by Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi and had been the subject of callous media attacks for his role as a star witness in the case, culminating in the revealing of his identity on national television and social media by Mr Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin-Central constituency.
6.As much as Anas is willing and ready to testify for the prosecution, doing so under the condition specified by the court, presents a clear and present danger to his security and safety, especially because of the issues chronicled above.
7.Under these circumstances, prudence requires that he declines the invitation to endanger his life and accordingly declines the invitation to reveal his identity to the accused person in the judges’ chamber or any other place.
8.Tiger Eye endorses the position of Anas and states that it is proper and wise to err on the side of caution to avoid any potential attack on another of its investigators.
9.Tiger Eye’s position is further buttressed by the unrelenting, coordinated, and well-financed media and other campaigns by private and State actors to undermine its operations and the Anas principle, which stand in their way of amassing corruption and social injustice.
10. Nevertheless, Tiger Eye shall remain unwavering and relentless in its fight against corruption and societal ills. Anas remains in high spirit and is grateful to the good people of Ghana for their support and protection.
Renowned investigative journalist and leader of private investigative firm, Tiger Eye PI, Anas Aremeyaw Anas will testify in an open court with his usual mask in the case against a former Ghana Football Association President, Kwesi Nyantakyi.
However, he would unmask so Mr Nyantakyi could identify him in Chambers prior to testifying in open court.
Initially, the prosecution had requested Anas, their star witness, to testify in-camera, but lawyers for Anas opposed the request.
The Court presided over by Justice Marie Louise Simmons said there would be no phones and other recording gadgets brought into the Chamber.
The Court, therefore, granted the application to have the witness testify in-camera.
It said it was in the interest of justice that where the liberty of a citizen was at stake, such a person was given the needed facilities to defend themselves.
The Court said the witness was a principal character in the determination of the case and the identity of the said witness was crucial to allow the accused to identify the said witness and be able to defend himself.
It said the witness had been seen in public addressing the media, while wearing his bead masks and that it showed that the said witness was comfortable appearing in public while disguising himself.
The former GFA President was charged with fraud and corruption over his involvement in the Anas Aremeyaw Anas Number 12 Exposé.
Nyantakyi, who is also facing the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud with a former Northern Regional Representative of the GFA, Abdulai Alhassan, pleaded not guilty.
The two football administrators have been admitted to their previous bail sum of GHS1 million each with three sureties, to be justified.
They are also to report to the case investigator until the final determination of the case.
The lawyer representing Charles Bissue, the former Secretary to the Inter Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, has accused the Special Prosecutor of practicing selective justice.
The lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah Esq., claims that the Special Prosecutor has failed to probe investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas regarding allegations made in the 2019 Galamsey Fraud Part 1 documentary.
According to Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah Esq., when Charles Bissue was invited for investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), they requested to see the petition that prompted the investigation. However, the OSP has refused to fulfill this request.
The lawyer finds it perplexing that the Special Prosecutor is investigating Charles Bissue without involving Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who was responsible for airing the documentary. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah Esq. views this as an irrational approach.
“Mr Martin Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor wrote an article and stated in there that apparently the Special Prosecutor Mr Kissi Adjabeng is the one who wrote the petition invoking the powers of the Special Prosecutor, and indeed he was also investigating Anas while he was in office in respect of this matter.
“And so, it is the current Special Prosecutor who then has decided not to investigate Anas in this matter. That then raised some curiosity necessitating the instant application to bring to the court’s attention to the effect that indeed it would be irrational for the Special Prosecutor to continue with its investigation and or prosecution of Mr Charles Bissue,” he said.
He indicated that the Special Prosecutor has on two occasions refused to provide the court with the petition that Anas Aremeyaw Anas filed invoking the powers of the OSP to investigate and prosecute Mr Bissue.
“Prior to the filing of this suit, we made a request for the petition that necessitated the investigation. On two occasions, we’ve made that request and the Special Prosecutor has refused to make that petition available to us.
“We thought that they were all leading to a certain conclusion or they were suggestive,” he argued.
The case has been adjourned to June 12, 2023 for the hearing of the motion for discovery, and the substantive suit which is seeking to restrain the OSP from investigating and prosecuting Mr Charles Bissue.
An Accra High Court has directed investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anasto appear before the chamber without a mask in his criminal charges against former President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Anas, who has been extremely reluctant to appear in court without his mask, will now have to remove his mask before he can testify in Chambers.
This comes after the Supreme Court quashed an earlier ruling by a lower court giving permission for Anas to testify in camera.
The journalist, whose investigation led to Nyantakyi resigning from several football posts, claimed his life would be in danger if he testifies in court.
The order of the High Court 2, Criminal Division granted permission to Anas Aremeyaw Anas to testify on camera in the case against Kwesi Nyantakyi.
In June 2018, the former member of Fifa’s executive council was filmed taking $65,000 in cash from an undercover reporter in a film captured by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas which was aired by BBC Africa’s investigations unit, Africa Eye.
Nyantakyi was pictured placing the “shopping money” into a black plastic bag from an undercover reporter pretending to be a businessman keen to invest in Ghanaian football.
He later agreed to what he believed to be a sponsorship deal for the Ghana FA, which he had presided over since 2005. The bogus deal, invented by the reporters, would have enabled millions of dollars in commission to be paid to a company controlled by him.
This cost him his positions as FIFA Council Member and 1st Vice President of CAF.
An Accra High Court has ordered for the demolition of a set of apartments and a glass factory owned by investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas at Tse-Ado in Accra.
This is after Justice Kwame Gyamfi Osei, who presided over a land dispute case between the journalist and one Adolf Tetteh Adjei ruled that the former illegally built on the piece of land at Tse-Ado.
Anas in 2017 went ahead with his construction on a 2 acre disputed land despite a court order urging him to put the project on hold until the land dispute is resolved.
After examining the evidence provided by Adolf Tetteh Adjei, the court found the journalist guilty of trespassing and illegally restricting its owner of use by “using police and land guards”, an awarded the plaintiff GHS100,000 which is to be used to cover the cost of demolition.
Following the court ruling, Anas Aremeyaw Anas is said to have made several attempts to negotiate with the land owner and pay for the full cost of the land. However, Adolf Tetteh Adjei is said to have refused the request.
What transpired in court
The land owner, the said Adolf Tetteh said the disputed parcel of land is covered by Land Title Certificate No. GA. 464555 and dated 26 February 2015 and added a copy of the Title Certificate and the indenture covering the land to the court.
Adolf Tetteh informed the court his Sub-lessor has also always been in effective possession of the land and had registered it in 2007 under Land Title
Certificate No. GA26393. The Sub-lessor also acquired the land with Title Certificate No. GA 19310 with photocopies of the said Land Title
Certificate No. GA 19310 and Land Title Certificate No. GA 25462 all presented in court.
Adolf Tetteh said Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ claim of customary grant of the land to him by a certain Ga family was “a merely a ploy to deceive the court”.
The Plaintiff told the court that Anas showed up one day and “caused a signpost to be erected on the land with the inscription “Tiger Eye Property. Keep off” and also employed the services of land guards to purportedly provide security for his unlawful construction works.”
Anas Aremeyaw Anas has been fined GHS 100,000 by a High Court in Accra for land-grabbing, unlawful trespassing, and the use of land guards to intimidate the rightful landowner, Adolf Tetteh Adjei.
The court, presided over by Justice Kwame Gyamfi Osei, found Anas guilty of trespassing and constructing on the land illegally while employing police and land guards to prevent the plaintiff from accessing the land.
Anas defended himself by alleging that Adjei’s claim of ownership was tainted by fraud.
The court after examination of all of the facts concluded that “The law would not permit anyone to allege fraud without proving same beyond reasonable doubt. One would also not be permitted to win the sympathy of the court by alleging fraud against his adversary without proving same beyond reasonable doubt.”
The land owner, the said Adolf Tetteh said the disputed parcel of land is covered by Land Title Certificate No. GA. 464555 and dated 26 February 2015 and added a copy of the Title Certificate and the indenture covering the land to the court.
Adolf Tetteh informed the court his Sub-lessor has also always been in effective possession of the land and had registered it in 2007 under Land Title Certificate No. GA26393.
The Sub-lessor also acquired the land with Title Certificate No. GA 19310 with photocopies of the said Land Title Certificate No. GA 19310 and Land Title Certificate No. GA 25462 all presented in court.
Adolf Tetteh said Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ claim of customary grant of the land to him by a certain Ga family was “merely a ploy to deceive the court”.
The Plaintiff told the court that Anas showed up one day and “caused a signpost to be erected on the land with the inscription “Tiger Eye Property. Keep off” and also employed the services of land guards to purportedly provide security for his unlawful construction works.”
The court ordered Anas Aremeyaw Anas to vacate the disputed land and to pay Ghs60,000 in general damages and Ghs40,000 in legal cost to Adolf Tetteh who adduced evidence to prove he acquired the land legally and was about to build when Anas Aremeyaw Anas showed up.
The court said it was perpetually restraining Anas Aremeyaw Anas, “his servants, agents, assigns, workmen and all those claiming through him from entering, carrying out any construction works or interfering with all that piece or parcel of land in any manner whatsoever or disturbing the Plaintiff’s peaceful occupation and possession of same”
Tiger Eye P.I Property Controversy In Court
Anas Aremeyaw Anas filed a motion to oppose the inclusion of Tiger Eye P.I in the suit as it was not an owner of the property but the plaintiff resisted and said Tiger Eye P.I should be in the suit.
Adolf Tetteh told the court when Anas seized the land in dispute, Anas caused to be erected a signpost on the land saying “Property of Tiger Eye P.I Keep Off”. According to Adolf Tetteh that is why he added the company to the court case because the signpost said his land was being claimed by Tiger Eye.
The court removed Tiger Eye from the suit while the second defendand sued with Anas failed to enter appearance or show up. The second defendant, Holy Quaye, is the person Anas claimed to have bought the land from.
“From the evidence, the Plaintiff was in possession of the land until the 1st Defendant blazingly entered same and started construction day and night with the help of the Police and land guards. The structures he erected on the land is clearly unauthorized. Any prudent purchaser is required to do due diligence before acquisition but in this case the 1st Defendant from the evidence did none.
He entered the land and erected a signpost on the land with the inscription “PROPERTY OF TIGER EYE. KEEP OFF. When an application was brought to join “TIGER EYE PI” to this suit, he resisted claiming the said entity has no interest in the land. His claim to the disputed land has no basis in law and in fact.
Trespass is an injury against possession, hence the 1st Defendant is liable. In trespass, damages are at large and there would be the need to award damages to commensurate with the circumstances of this case.”
This is the second time in a matter of weeks in which the court has found the investigative journalist liable for one wrong or the other after another court ruled in favour of Kennedy Agyapong against the journalist.
On May 31, 2023, more than 11 million unregistered SIM cards will be terminated, this is according to the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Addressing the press in Accra, the Director General of the NCA, Joe Anokye, said, “One of the things to note is that active mass SIM registration for existing SIMs is coming to a close and as mentioned earlier, we have about 11 million SIMs which are yet to begin the registration process, these subscribers have up to the end of May 2023 to complete their SIM registration or have their SIMs deactivated from the network”.
He assured that the data safety of Mobile subscribers within the Central SIM registration database is intact.
Concerns have been raised about some breaches of data by industry watchers, but the Authority says the integrity of the system is intact.
The NCA also justified a directive to major industry player, MTN to suspend its data zone service.
Mr. Joe Anokye said MTN which had been identified as a Significant Market Player breached regulations.
“MTN should not charge lower for voice, SMS, and data. MTN should not charge off-net calls. MTN has so far been in compliance with the directive. However, in January 2023, the NCA took notice of MTN data zone bundle, the 24-hour data bundle for the various data allocations. Some market players raised concerns, NCA engaged MTN and reviewed the product. We realised that the MTN data bundle was the lowest on the market and in violation of the directive. It was directed to discontinue the service,” he explained.
Ghana’s first and Former Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu has claimed that investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas is afraid of his own reputation as an anti-corruption businessman rather than a sincere anti-corruption activist.
Mr. Amidu claimed that Anas may have hurt himself by using a power of attorney to file the lawsuit rather than doing so himself out of fear of having his true identity revealed in an article on Justice Eric Baah’s High Court’s decision to dismiss a GHS25 million defamation suit filed by the investigative journalist against Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong.
“Anas A. Anas knowingly and voluntarily caused his action to be commenced by one Listowell Bukarson on behalf of Anas A. Anas as the plaintiff. This was by virtue of a power of attorney authorizing him to bring the action in the name of the plaintiff, Anas A. Anas on 18 June 2018 for twenty-five million Ghana cedis (GHS25million) damages. The writ of summons was amended on 20 November 2018 after the defendant had filed his statement of defence on 13 November 2018. The Plaintiff then replied on 21 January 2019 to close the pleadings. The filing of the action through an attorney as an agent of a principal is not controversial and is enabled by law”, Mr Amidu said in a long article.
He noted: “Any act in any court required or authorised by the law to be made or done by a party in such court may be done by an authorised agent. The question is whether the attorney can testify on behalf of the plaintiff on matters which are not within his personal knowledge. Did the attorney see or witness the transactions alleged? As far as the requirement that he should testify about what he actually did see or heard is concerned, the attorney could not testify about what the plaintiff himself witnessed or heard”.
Mr Amidu indicated: “The rule against admissibility of hearsay evidence is statutory. Anas A. Anas, the plaintiff, put himself in a situation of being incapable of giving relevant and primary evidence in person and be cross-examined because he lives in the fear of his own shadow as an anti-corruption entrepreneur and not as a genuine anti-corruption crusader”.
To him, “Anas A. Anas, thus, lost the only opportunity to publicly tell the court his version of the facts within his personal knowledge and to be cross-examined to establish his credibility”.
He believes “genuine anti-corruption crusaders do not hide their faces behind masks”.
Read Mr Amidu’s full article below:
The High Court (General Jurisdiction 2) Accra, on 15 March 2023 after hearing the defamation action brought by Anas A. Anas against Kennedy Agyepong and considering the evidence adduced at the trial concluded that:
“I state in conclusion, that whereas all the statements founded on exhibits KOA1, KOA2, KOA3 and KOA4 were truthful and factual, thereby sustaining defendant’s defence of justification and fair comment, the statements in plaintiff’s exhibit C; though capable of defamatory meanings, were not proven to have actually defamed the plaintiff. I found the claims of plaintiff merit-less. It is hereby dismissed.”
ANAS A. ANAS AS THE PLAINTIFF
Anas A. Anas the Plaintiff dabbles both as a lawyer and an “internationally acclaimed investigative journalist”. Anas A. Anas knowingly and voluntarily caused his action to be commenced by one Listowell Bukarson on behalf of Anas A. Anas as the plaintiff. This was by virtue of a power of attorney authorizing him to bring the action in the name of the plaintiff, Anas A. Anas on 18 June 2018 for twenty-five million Ghana cedis (GHS25million) damages. The writ of summons was amended on 20 November 2018 after the defendant had filed his statement of defence on 13 November 2018. The Plaintiff then replied on 21 January 2019 to close the pleadings. The filing of the action through an attorney as an agent of a principal is not controversial and is enabled by law.
Any act in any court required or authorized by the law to be made or done by a party in such court may be done by an authorized agent. The question is whether the attorney can testify on behalf of the plaintiff on matters which are not within his personal knowledge. Did the attorney see or witness the transactions alleged? As far as the requirement that he should testify about what he actually did see or heard is concerned, the attorney could not testify about what the plaintiff himself witnessed or heard.
The rule against admissibility of hearsay evidence is statutory. Anas A. Anas, the plaintiff put himself in a situation of being incapable of giving relevant and primary evidence in person and be cross-examined because he lives in the fear of his own shadow as an anti-corruption entrepreneur and not as a genuine anti-corruption crusader. Anas A. Anas thus lost the only opportunity to publicly tell the court his version of the facts within his personal knowledge and to be cross-examined to establish his credibility. Genuine anti-corruption crusaders do not hide their faces behind masks.
READING AND EVALUATING THE JUDGMENT
I have painstakingly read and re-read the 64-page judgment of the trial High Court in ANAS v AGYEPONG using all the knowledge, experience, and arsenals in the legal armory I have acquired over the past upwards of four and half decades (45 years) when I held myself out as a private legal practitioner, a public officer serving in various capacities, including Deputy Attorney General, Minister of the Interior, and Attorney General, amongst others. I declined for personal reasons my proposed elevation as a justice to the Supreme Court in 1999. I am now retired and hold no licence to practice law.
But I say that while one may disagree with the judgment or aspects of the judgment of the learned trial judge in the case, no rational person learned in the law can fault the trial judge for the transparent and accountable manner he went about stating the facts, the issues, the burden of proof and other methodological procedure that enabled him to arrive at his evaluation of the evidence and the conclusions upon his appreciation and understanding of the evidence that unfolded before him at the trial. I make these statements based solely upon the content of the judgment which I downloaded from open source when the media published it. I read the judgment without any previous bank of knowledge about Mr. Justice Eric Baah, JA, sitting as an additional High Court Judge. I have never known or remember ever meeting him, and to the best of my recollection it was the first time I was hearing about him or reading a judgment authored by him. In my candid view after reading the judgment over and over again, I was left in no doubt that the learned trial judge had performed his judicial duty as a trial judge would do based on his appreciation of the evidence before him and the law as he elucidated and understood it. The trial judge exhibited a consciousness of the fact that generally in a civil trial, the burden of proof is on the preponderance of probabilities.
The judge underscored the evidential requirement that where, however, a criminal act is the issue in a civil trial, the burden of persuasion requires proof beyond reasonable doubt, though the sufficiency of the evidence required to attain that standard would depend, to a large extent, on the gravity of that particular offence. The trial judge also exhibited a consciousness of the fact that he was not sitting as a criminal trial court trying crimes but as a civil court trying a case of defamation which had in issue allegations of criminal act(s). The trial judge through the thoroughness of his analysis and legal reasoning demonstrated in his judgment that he was not convicting any of the parties to the action of any criminal offence or having the power to sentence any of them.
The judge reminded himself of his duty to evaluate the evidence, the facts, the law and make findings on the balance of probabilities whether the plaintiff had made out a case of defamation or had failed to do so as a result of the defence put forward by the defendant. In performing his duty as a trial civil court for the tortious offence of defamation he made findings that there was on the balance of probabilities forgery, blackmailing, bribery and corruption, an alleged murder, etcetera, justifiably made by the defendant against the plaintiff. But these findings did not constitute criminal convictions for which the losing party may be sentenced to jail. A trial court or appellate court commits no offence in making such findings and giving judgment based upon those findings in civil trials and civil appeals.
The rules of evidence make it clear in Ghana that in civil trials the availability of a judgment convicting a person for a crime at a criminal trial does not even relieve the civil trial judge from satisfying himself on the evidential burden in the civil trial where a criminal act is in issue. Section 127(1) of Ghana’s Evidence Decree, 1975 (Act 323) and the accompanying Commentary throws light on this matter.
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT AND COHORT SCANDALIZATION OF THE COURT
After reading the judgement of the trial court several times, I decided to research how the judgment was perceived in the politicized environment of Ghana of today where even truth is turned on its head by paid political communicators, partisan political elites, and politicians seeking raw political power with no iota of the basic democratic morality or values premised on the interest of the ordinary citizen.
Anas A. Anas’s Action and Reaction to Judgment
Anas A. Anas was not compelled by the judiciary to bring an action for defamation before any level of the court system against Kennedy Agyepong. He consciously and voluntarily chose to do so in the expectation that he may prevail at the trial. Any party losing in the trial court has a right of appeal if he formed the view that there were appealable grounds against the decision of the trial court. The right of appeal is exercisable by both parties up to the Supreme Court provided they guide against abusing the process of the court with spurious actions and appeals. But a losing party or his cohorts who impute partiality or impropriety to the judge or court commit the offence of scandalizing the trial judge, the court, and the administration of justice as an institution and are in contempt of Court whether or not the losing party subsequently files an appeal against the judgment.
The decision of Supreme Court in the case of REPUBLIC v MENSA-BONSU & OTHERS, EX PARTE ATTORNEY-GENERAL [1995- 96] 1 GLR 377 governs the situation.
Anas A. Anas, a lawyer, and the founding partner in Cromwell Gray LLP with William Agyebeng, now the Special Prosecutor, and his cohorts appeared to assume that when a trial goes against one’s expectations, the trial judge must be vilified and attacked as an excuse for filing an appeal.
The plaintiff was reported to have said, amongst other things, about the judgment that went against him that:
“My team of lawyers and I have carefully studied the judgement delivered by the court and we are unanimous that the judge made an overreach and descended into the arena and made a criminal pronouncement about me as if I was standing a criminal trial.”
The civil action for defamation which Anas A. Anas voluntarily brought before the trial court involved criminal acts which were the issue in a civil trial and the trial judge was bound to make determinations on them in the civil trial. How could the trial judge do that without using the rules of evidence on the burden of proof which any trial court is bound to consider in making its findings on the evidence?
The impression that by performing his judicial functions in exercise of the judicial power guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution the trial judge had descended into the arena of conflict is an attack on the independence and impartiality of the judge and constitutes a scurrilous abuse of the court.
One who has confidence in his cause will quietly go on appeal without making any political fussy to save face.
Reaction from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) & The Fourth Estate
On the same day, another investigative journalist who has received the Anas Aremeyaw Anas investigative journalist award from the Press Foundation and is associated or works under a project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), heaped scandalous abuse on the trial judge, the court, and the judiciary as an institution. He was quoted to have said, inter alia, that:
“The judge said what Anas does is “investigative terrorism” and not investigative journalism. Having gone through the judgment, however, one won’t be an inch away from the truth to conclude that what happened is judicial terrorism.” The Executive Director of the MFWA in an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, 18 March 2021 (who works with the journalist who scandalized the trial judge, court and the judiciary as engaged in “judicial terrorism”) was reported to have used words disparaging and constituting scurrilous abuse of the court and the judiciary as an institution. He was quoted on open source as saying that: ‘the Judges’ decision “went beyond probing whether what Kennedy Agyapong said was true, or not true, justifiable, fair and whatever, to actually himself defaming the character of Anas.”’
It is an abuse of the independence guaranteed the media under the 1992 Constitution to accuse a judge sitting as a judge in exercise of his judicial functions and powers of defaming the character of a plaintiff who voluntarily submitted himself to the jurisdiction of the court and gave evidence to the court through an agent-attorney.
The imputation of partiality and impropriety to the court, the administration of justice, and the trial judge’s character constitutes contempt of scandalizing the judge and the administration of justice. As Mrs. Justice A. Dordzie, J (as she then was) decided in the REPUBLIC v GENERAL PORTFOLIO & 3 OTHERS, Suit No. MISC. 932/96, High Court, Accra, 9 August 1996 (Unreported), the slightest suggestion of bias will be contempt and thus the defence of fair comment is not recognized in contempt scandalizing the court. It is the last thing one would have expected from the MFWA.
CDD-Ghana’s Endorsement of Subterfuge and other pending matters
On the same JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, 18 March 2023, Dr. Pumpuni Asante of CDDGhana was reportedly quoted to have said that there are many cases that demand that the investigators resort to deception in order to bring the issue to the attention of the public for thorough investigations to be conducted in order to punish the perpetrators.
Dr Asante is reported to have justified the unethical use of subterfuge by the executive branch, and private and unlicensed covert investigators in the following words:
“… there are many issues around corruption that you have to use subterfuge to get to the matter. … And often when it happens, it will lead to an investigation—a substantive investigation—like in the FIFA case, it led to a substantive investigation and then it helps society to address these problems in society,”
Dr. Pumpuni Asante’s disdain for investigatory and prosecutorial ethics which is the foundation of constitutionalism, democracy and the rule of law that upholds the dignity of the citizen from covert state and private unlicensed investigatory overreach for the preservation of the right to be presumed innocent and the right against self-incrimination only confirms my earlier conclusions about what I referred to in my article, “The Fight Against Corruption Requires A High Degree of Crusading Integrity And Not Entrepreneurship” of 16 September 2022 on the supposed doyen of the NGO’s, CDD-Ghana.
CDD-Ghana is the supposed doyen of the entrepreneurial NGOs in Ghana because as reported in a Modern Ghana article, “Corruption Watch Ghana is an initiative by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organizations including, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Ghana Anti- Corruption Coalition (GACC), and Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA)…” I came to the considered conclusion in my article of 16 September 2022 on the high degree of crusading integrity required to fight corruption and not entrepreneurship that:
“The same influence peddling or trading of influence can be seen on the website of the OSP where two of the leading foreign influenced NGOs have become integral partners of an independent OSP: Afrobarometer-Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), and Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) – without the slightest shame of any conflict of interest in rigging the elections to Chairpersonship of the governing council of the OSP and violating Section 22 of Act 959 which forbids the OSP from accepting any funds directly or indirectly from anybody except from or through the Ministry of Finance.
This partnership clearly negates the independence of the OSP and now enhances the ability of the NGOs to use influence peddling or trading of influence to source funds, grants and donations from foreign sources first to meet their administrative expenses and salaries, and secondly to interfere in the independent operations of the OSP.”
It is Dr. Pumpuni Asante and CDD-Ghana’s unethical approach to hallowed law enforcement and prosecutorial rules and conventions that has led him to trivialize a considered judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in Ghana by justifying subterfuge in investigations which the trial court found as being inconsistent with the rule of law and justice in the defamation claim by the plaintiff. I am not surprised by the attitude of CDD-Ghana and its Corruption Watch Ghana initiative because one of their close associates was brave enough to confess to the Deputy Special Prosecutor and I when I was the Special Prosecutor that they had funded a journalist to undertake covert investigation of a public official.
The associate told us that, thereafter the associate negotiated with the Minister for National Security to persuade the President to refer the resultant covert investigation to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for further investigation and prosecution. When the Government had done the associate’s bidding, the anti-corruption coalition petitioned the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice as well. The CDDGhana had gotten the head of its close associate unto the OSP without ever stopping to think of how unethical it was to involve the OSP as an independent anti-corruption agency in a covert investigation funded by one of its minions on the OSP governing board.
The conflict of interest involved in the whole funded “subterfuge” operation by the CDDGhana’s associate tainted the independent investigatory and prosecutorial discretion of the OSP. I found it unconstitutional and unethical as a former Deputy Attorney General and Attorney General to have exercised any prosecutorial discretion in the referral by the Presidency obtained through blackmail before I resigned as the Special Prosecutor. These are the very anti-corruption civil society organizations who are the leading foreign funded and influential NGOs in Ghana now constituting integral partners of a supposedly independent OSP.
The journalist for hire or for sale who was funded for the covert operations has received multiple year after year awards from this associate of the CDD-Ghana without any disclosure of the hiring or buying fees paid to the journalist for his entrepreneurial services as an investigative journalist. The audio and video materials admitting the funding used to hire or buy the investigative journalist is available on open source for those who care to research it. The reader should only make sure he accesses the full original audios and videos of the interviews and not the subsequent edited ones also now easily available on open source.
Political reaction to the judgment at UPSA in lecture on financing political campaigns
I also found it amazing that the judgment of the trial court became an instrument of cheap politicking on 22 March 2023 at a lecture on financing political campaigns, at the UPSA auditorium.
The august Speaker, who is also a contender for one of the political party’s flagbearership position at the coming party primaries was quoted as having said that:
“God willing, in 2025, when I have the opportunity to be the President of Ghana who has been a President before, I will come with priceless experience to fix our broken nation. I want us to build the Ghana we want together by writing – not footnotes, not pages but – chapters in the anticorruption history of our dear country Ghana. We must also uphold human rights, including freedom of expression and not be describing some journalists as terrorists.” (Emphasis supplied).
The problem I have with the insertion of the above last sentence as a cheap innuendo and malicious castigation of the court and the judge in the Speaker’s speech is that Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo excelled and exhibited more sophistication in deceiving Ghanaians for their votes at the 2016 elections only to throw those values and promises to the wind as President of Ghana. My second issue was whether the former Excellency even found time to read the trial judge’s 64 -page judgment in which the judge reminded himself in Section H, at page 11 to 13 of his considered judgment on “H. Defamation and Freedom of Expression.”
As part of the trial judge’s analysis of freedom of expression versus the right to human dignity and its defence through the law of defamation, the court, amongst other things, at page 13 paragraph 2 stated that:
“The right to free speech and dignity of the individual are two competing constitutionally guaranteed values, none of which is superior to the other…In contest in this case is the defendant’s right to free speech and expression, and the plaintiff’s right to the inviolability of his dignity and reputation…The law of defamation however gives this court jurisdiction to umpire a dispute between an individual’s right to dignity, and the right to free speech and expression, as this case presents.”
I shudder to think that the august Speaker at the UPSA whose main topic had to do with financing political campaigns was just copying from Nana Akufo Addo’s 2015-2016 over flogged psychological deception play book just to attain political power. My third concern was the deceptive allegation that the trial judge tagged journalist as terrorists without reference to the context of the findings and decisions contained in the trial court’s judgment. The judgment states upon the available evidence at pages 60 to 62 of the judgment that:
‘In his evidence in chief, defendant contended that the meeting in exhibit KOA4, was to plot to entrap the Prime Minister of Ivory Coast and the President of Ghana. The conversations in exhibits KOA3 and KOA4 appear very much to confirm that claim. …As the fake Sheik stated in exhibit KOA3 “they planned it very well.”
The President and the Prime Minister who plaintiff and his team targeted are the leaders of their nations. They embody the soul and spirit of the nations. ….However, a pre-emptily, unjustified attacks on their credibility, unprovoked by any credible suspicion of a specific act of corruption engaged in or about to be engaged in by them, such as drawing them into a trap so as to be caught in a contrived corruption set up, as was alleged by the defendant, and backed by exhibits KOA4, was unwarranted and devious. It should be understood that as officers caught by plaintiff in his investigations have lost their jobs, an entrapped president may be compelled to resign out of shame or public pressure. That means, the plaintiff through his investigative antics can cause the removal of a president, and thereby upend the mandate given to him at the elections. That is not investigative journalism. It is investigative terrorism. It is exercise of indirect political power under the cloak of journalism (page 60). The serious aspect is that political, enemies of a president who could not stand him at an election, may hire the plaintiff to entrap him to undermine his presidency. Enemies of a state can also hire him just to destroy the political hierarchy.
Xxxx
In all honesty, the plot by plaintiff and his group in exhibit KOA4 has nothing to do with journalism. It was a scheme for grabbing power by the back door and satisfying plaintiff’s insatiable taste for power, publicity, fame, awards, and rewards. Since the president is an embodiment of the soul of the nation, any unwarranted plot out of nothing to entrap him to destroy his reputation and undermine his authority is reproachable.
The attacks of defendant on plaintiff on that ground deserves commendation and not condemnation (page 61). I hold in respect of exhibits KOA3 and KOA4, that any statements based on them were justified and passed the test of fair comment. In the result, the court finds established the defence of justification and fair comment in relation to the statements of defendant based on exhibits KOA1, KOA2, KOA3 and KOA4. Since those statements were justified, they could not have actually defamed the plaintiff (pages 62).’ I will rest my comments and criticism about the unwarranted political intervention by the former President without stirring further the hornets’ nest with other observations on the integrity of being an honest leader and a return of a Christ the messiah operating on my mind.
Judgment based on evaluation of Exhibits, facts and evidence permissible by law
The trial judge’s findings and conclusions are derived from the evidence as he evaluated them from “Exhibits KOA1, KOA2, KOA3 and KOA4”.
I hold no brief for his appreciation of the facts, the evidence and conclusions on the law. But he is empowered by the 1992 Constitution to perform his judicial functions and exercise the judicial power entrusted to him as a superior court judge. The appellate process is clearly provided for in the Constitution and laws of Ghana to ensure the rule of law and not the rule of public opinion for the attainment of raw abusive political power.
RESPONSIBILITY OF ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADERS AND POLITICAL LEADERS
I hold the view that those who aspire to genuinely crusade against corruption as investigative journalists, and to lead this nation in the exercise of the executive power ought to show an example in upholding the integrity of the judicial process instead lending their voices to the cohorts of a losing party to scandalize and bring the administration of justice into disrepute. It should also be remembered that there are abundant documentary and other evidence of who created and facilitated Anas A. Anas’s rise as an anti-corruption entrepreneur and a covert political agent with unaccountable privileges. The OSP investigated these facts during my tenure in the pending Charles Bissue corruption investigation case reported to the OSP by letter under the signature of Kissi Agyebeng, who was then Anas A. Anas’ law firm partner at Cromwell Gray LLP. Kissi Agyebeng is now the Special Prosecutor.
Anti-corruption as an endemic profitable enterprise for covert property acquisitions
The fight against corruption has become the darling child of the most corrupt members of civil society organizations who see anti-corruption as a profitable enterprise which protects and removes every suspicion from those entrepreneurs of being endemically corrupt themselves. It is easy to squander donor funds under the guise of fighting corruption without raising an eyebrow. I wish one could make an inventory of the properties acquired by some of the management of the so called entrepreneurial anti-corruption civil society organizations and compare them to the acquisitions made by some honest public officers and the honest political office holder after several years of long service to mother Ghana.
CORRUPT NON-DISCLOSURES OF BENEFICIAL INTERESTS AND CONCLUSIONS
As I went about studying, examining, and analyzing the 64-page judgment in ANAS A. ANAS v KENNEDY AGYEPONG and researching the comments against the judgment I came across the fact that some of the critics and participants in the discourse on the judgment including JoyNews’ Newsfile were recipients of the Anas Award for Best Journalist set up by The Press Foundation. The Press Foundation, from open source material, was established by Anas A. Anas’s agent and attorney in the GHS25million defamation case, Listowell Bukarson, who commenced the action on Anas’ behalf as the plaintiff.
These recipients of the Anas Award for Best Journalist have written, conducted radio and TV interviews scurrilously abusing and scandalizing the court without disclosing their interest and stake in the fortunes of Anas. A. Anas as the plaintiff or in his agent in the court who conferred the awards upon them in Kumasi and Bolgatanga through the Press Foundation. This is evidence of malicious criticism of the court and the trial judge. Presenting oneself to the public as an honest, impartial, and independent broker in maliciously criticizing the judgment of the court and scandalizing the court while being a beneficiary of an award set up in the suppose honour of the losing plaintiff is unpardonable corruption in the broadest and unethical sense.
Courting and creating a perception of goodwill and integrity from the innocent public through subterfuge is a worse form of corruption also in a broadest and immoral sense. It is professionally unethical and corrupt, whichever profession or professions one belongs to. Ghana shall rise again one day in probity, transparency, and accountability under the 1992 Constitution.
A member of parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, has stated that the defamation case he won against investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas should not be seen as a victory for him but a win forprofessional journalism and all those who have been harmed by Anas’ investigative reporting.
In a statement, Mr Agyapong said “It is important that as we digest the judgment, we focus on the real essence and not view it as a victory for Ken.
“It is indeed a victory for professional journalism as well as individuals and governments across Africa who have suffered unjustly from this style of investigative journalism.”
The Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15 dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, held that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman” – but rather, the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
This was after Anas, in 2018, sued the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker for allegedly defaming him.
Anas prayed to the court to award GH¢25 million against Mr Agyapong to compensate him for the defamatory material published against him by the MP.
The court concluded that what Anas is engaged in is not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Agyapong was justified to call Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
“I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,”Justice Baah ruled.
But Anas said he disagreed with the judge both on law and on the facts of the case.
He accused Justice Baah of delving into the arena of criminal prosecution against him despite the matter being a civil case.
“My team and I and the lawyers have carefully studied the judgment delivered by the court and we are unanimous that the judge made an overreach and descended into the arena and made criminal pronouncements about me as If I was standing a criminal trial.
“He also justified the MP accusing me of the murder of JB Danquah, murder of 20 Chinese nationals. We are filing an appeal because there was no evidence provided,” Anas said in a video recording responding to the judgment.”
He added “…I disagreed with the judge’s ruling both on law and the facts. when I started this work 21 years ago, I never assumed that it would be an easy road yet it is the evidence in my work and the commitment to truth and justice that has always led and prevailed against all the forces that have worked to pull us down”.
According to Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, Senior Partner at Sarkodie Baffour Awuah & Associates, the judge’s decision in the defamation case between Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin Central, and investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas was founded on the law.
He claimed that the judge deserves praise for “setting the law out right” and basing his decision on the evidence that was provided in court.
“The decision was not in a vacuum. Plain and simple. It wasn’t in a vacuum, it was based on the law, and that the law has a defined basis for what constitute defamation. And so therefore the decision was not in a vacuum.”
Speaking on JoyNews on Saturday, March 18, the legal practitioner acknowledged that it is not always that judges have their ruling right. Therefore, making references to the law might be wrong sometimes. However, in the instances where the law is set out right, the judge must be commended.
He added that a lot of people cannot appreciate the ruling properly because they are not lawyers.
In June 2018, the renowned international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas sued Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central, for defamation in relation to the content of the “Who watches the watchman” documentary.
Anas requested that the High Court grant aggravated damages of GHC25 million due to the MP’s publication of defamatory materials.
The MP during a live broadcast on TV revealed documents in an effort to undermine the investigative journalist who had produced a damning documentary about the corruption in Ghanaian football.
The video in question was from a live Twi broadcast on Net 2 TV on May 29, 2018, during which Mr. Agyapong unequivocally declared that Anas is a blackmailer, corrupt, extortionist, and wicked person.
In a similar vein, Mr. Agyapong, who owns the private radio station Oman FM, disseminated what Anas said were defamatory comments on May 31, 2018.
According to Mr. Awuah, there was no need for the court to determine whether truly the defamatory statements were made by the defendant, in that he had already admitted them.
Mr. Awuah posited that the alleged defamatory statements issued by Mr. Agyapong are not necessarily factual statements in themselves, but was rather a mere reaction to same said to him by the journalist when he reportedly indicated that the MP was responsible for the death of a colleague journalist, Ahmed Sualle.
Given this scenario, Mr. Agyapong is not obliged to provide evidence to his statements, according to Mr. Awuah.
“The question is whether or not in the circumstance of it, will the right thinking member of society come to the conclusion that indeed, Kennedy Agyapong actually meant that JB Danquah Adu was killed by Anas?,” he asked.
Meanwhile, following the court’s verdict, the plaintiff, Anas has expressed disappointment.
“We find the court decision an unfortunate travesty of justice and very inimical to the administration of justice and fairness. If for nothing at all the plaintiff made an allegation of murder against Anas” the Tyger Eye PI said in a statement.
The journalist says he remains resolute in his fight against corruption in the Ghanaian society.
The Member of Parliament forAkim Oda, Alexander Akwasi Acquah, has stated that nothing should be done to obstruct the work of investigative journalists in Ghana.
He predicted that the day investigative journalism is banned, the nation would be ruined.
He was commenting on the judgment that was delivered in the case of Anas versus Kennedy Agyapong while speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, March 18.
The Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15 dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, held that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman” – but rather, the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
This was after Anas, in 2018, sued the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker for allegedly defaming him.
Anas prayed to the court to award GH¢25 million against Mr Agyapong to compensate him for the defamatory material published against him by the MP.
The court concluded that what Anas is engaged in is not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Agyapong was justified to call Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
“I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,” Justice Baah ruled.
But Anas said he disagreed with the judge both on law and on the facts of the case.
He accused Justice Baah of delving into the arena of criminal prosecution against him despite the matter being a civil case.
“My team and I and the lawyers have carefully studied the judgment delivered by the court and we are unanimous that the judge made an overreach and descended into the arena and made criminal pronouncements about me as If I was standing a criminal trial.
“He also justified the MP accusing me of the murder of JB Danquah, murder of 20 Chinese nationals. We are filing an appeal because there was no evidence provided,” Anas said in a video recording responding to the judgment.”
He added “…I disagreed with the judge’s ruling both on law and the facts. when I started this work 21 years ago, I never assumed that it would be an easy road yet it is the evidence in my work and the commitment to truth and justice that has always led and prevailed against all the forces that have worked to pull us down”
Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has said that another defamation suit he filed in the United States against the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, is still ongoing.
According to him, the suit he filed in the US against Ken Agyapong is similar to the suit that was thrown out by the High Court in Accra on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
“Last year we also filed another defamation action against the MP. The case is ongoing. As a student and practitioner, I strongly believe in the rule of law,” he said.
Anas also said that he will appeal the ruling of the High Court on the defamation lawsuit he filed against Kennedy Agyapong, a presidential hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
According to him, the judge who presided over the case treated him as if he was the one on trial and accused him of crimes without evidence.
Anas, who made these remarks in a video shared on social media, added that the action of the judge was an overreach and he and his team have decided to file an appeal against his ruling.
“My team of lawyers and I have carefully studied the judgment delivered by the court and we are unanimous that the judge made an overreach … and made criminal pronouncement about me as if I was standing a criminal trial.
“He also justified that MP accusing me of the murder of the late JB Danquah, murder of 20 Chinese nationals and a host of other crimes. We are filing an appeal because there was no evidence provided,” he said.
The Accra High Court dismissed the GHC25 million defamation suit against Ken Agyapong, a presidential hopeful of the New Patriotic Party, brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
According to 3news.com, the judge, Justice Eric Baah, was of the view that Anas did not prove Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman” – but rather, the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
The Assin Central MP has been facing a GHC25 million suit from Anas over some comments he (MP) had allegedly made against the investigative journalist in public after airing his investigative piece #Number 12, which exposed some rots in Ghana Football.
The judge even told Anas that what he practices is not investigative journalism, but “investigative terrorism’’.
Background:
Sometime in 2018, the ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defaming him.
Anas was asking the High Court to award aggravated damages to the tune of GHC25 million arising from defamatory materials published by the MP.
He said the MP had been publishing materials in his bid to discredit him after releasing an explosive piece on the rot in Ghanaian football.
Displeased with the MP’s actions, Anas, through his lawyer, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, sued Mr Agyapong for the award of general damages for defamation in the defendant’s publications.
A journalist, Mr Listowell Yesu Bukarson, has been granted the power of attorney to stand in for Anas.
Publications:
The publications complained of include a live programme in Twi on Adom TV, on May 29, 2018, where Ken Agyapong categorically stated that Anas was a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist and evil.
According to the statement of claim, the defendant, in a similar manner, published defamatory words on May 31, 2018, via Oman FM, a private radio station owned by the defendant.
The statement of claim also stated that the defendant published more defamatory materials against the plaintiff via other platforms, to the extent of releasing pictures purportedly those of the investigative journalist in his bid to blow the latter’s cover.
Ibrahim Sannie Daara, a former communications director for the Ghana Football Association, after the High Court’s decision in the Kennedy Agyapong v. Anas Aremeyaw Anas defamation case has said that “Evil and evildoers will not perpetuate their wrongdoing forever. There would be justice and that justice has been served today.
Today not anywhere but in the law court where now it has been confirmed, verified, and approved that Anas Aremeyaw Anas is corrupt and this is coming from the Court.”
On March 15, 2023, the Accra High Court dismissed Anas’ defamation lawsuit for 25 million cedis and ordered the investigative journalist to pay Kennedy Agyapong 50,000 cedis as damages.
The Accra High Court, did justice by exposing Anas Aremeyaw Anas as a dishonest and extortionate investigative journalist according to Saani Daara.
Saani Daara said he is pleased that Anas Aremeyaw Anas has been humiliated in front of Ghanaians because he believes that Anas’ method was to twist the facts rather than seek the truth.
“The Court of Ghana said that he is a blackmailer. Evil and evildoers will not perpetuate their wrongdoing forever. The truth has come out in a way that has humiliated this man (Anas Aremeyaw Anas) whose modus operandi is to twist things and not seek the truth,” Saani Daara said in an interview.
Meanwhile, Kennedy Agyapong stated that his win was dedicated to the former Ghana Football Association president, Kwesi Nyantakyi who was humiliated in the documentary in 2018.
Kennedy Agyapong also turned down the ¢50,000 awarded by the court for him and cautioned Anas to be conscious of his actions.
Kennedy Agyapong, a member of parliament for Assin Central, is appealing for the reinstatement of every person who was fired from their job after being involved in what he calls Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ “awful” investigation.
His remarks follow his victory over a defamation suit filed against him by Anas.
On Wednesday, March 15, the Accra High Court dismissed the GH¢25 million defamation suit against Kennedy Ohene Agyapong brought by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The judge, Justice Eric Baah, held that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman” – but rather, the documentary exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
This was after Anas, in 2018, sued the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for allegedly defaming him.
Anas prayed to the court to award GH¢25 million against Mr Agyapong to compensate him for the defamatory material published against him by the MP.
The court concluded that what Anas is engaged in is not investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism” and that Agyapong was justified to call Anas “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil”.
“I find the claims by the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,” Justice Baah ruled.
Mr Agyapong dedicated his victory to victims of Anas’ work including former President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwasi Nyantakyi who was captured in Anas’ investigative work dubbed “Number 12” which uncovered rots in Ghana football.
Speaking to journalists after the court hearing, Mr Kennedy Agyapong said “we have to be bold to speak the truth, Anas goes ahead to [allegedly] defame people and gets away. It is only in this country that a journalist covers his face to go and give witness while Supreme Court judges are sitting there.
“Anas has to come out and apologize. All I am saying is the victory is for Kwasi Nyantakyi.”
“All those who were sacked over Anas terrible should be reinstated,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Tiger Eye PI, the investigative firm belonging to Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has said that they are disappointed in the court ruling.
In a statement reacting to the ruling, Tiger Eye PI said: “We find the court decision an unfortunate travesty of justice and very inimical to the administration of justice and fairness. If for nothing at all made an allegation of murder against Anas.”
It added: “Tiger Eye PI and our CEO Anas Aremeyaw remain resolute in our fight against corruption in the Ghanaian society.”
Award-winning investigative Journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has been in the news lately after losing a GHC25 million defamation suit he took against Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.
An Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, struck out the defamation suit brought by the journalist against the lawmaker, Kennedy Agyapong.
The judge in delivering his ruling described Anas’ job as an investigative terrorist instead of an investigative journalist.
“He has been totally disgraced. He once portrayed himself as an angel, but today I’m not even sure he is at the devil’s level yet.” the Judge said
Here is a full list of all of the works he has undertaken in his career, made available via wikipedia:
The Burger Story (1999): This was the first undercover investigation by Anas. He worked as a street hawker to expose police officers who took bribes from unlicensed traders on a major highway in Accra.
Torture on the High Seas (2003): Anas went undercover aboard a shipping vessel from Afko fisheries to expose the maltreatment of Ghanaian workers by a Korean employer.
Bole Rebel Raid (2005): An investigative story which exposed how Ivorian rebels invaded Ghanaian territories in 2005, made incursions into some northern communities, and subjected the inhabitants to constant torture and abuse.
In this story Anas went undercover in the villages of Saru and Walata. Ivorian rebels had invaded and captured the chief of Saru and some of his elders. As part of the investigation, Anas went as the ‘Prince of Walata’ and managed to meet the rebel leader, receiving information about the rebels’ camp and operations.
After the story was reported, the government of John Kufuor took steps to address the lack of security in the affected communities. The chief and elders were released, security for the affected Ghanaian communities was provided by the government, and the borders were secured.
Passport Scandal (2006): Posing as a rich businessman, Anas worked to expose officials within Ghana’s passport office who provided Ghanaian passports to non-citizens for a fee. He made hundreds of passports using fake identities. Passports were made in the name of the then President, the Inspector General of Police and other high political and national characters to prove the system was corrupt. This led to the fast-track introduction of biometric passport for Ghanaians.
Torture Chamber of Bangkok Prisons (2006): An Anas undercover investigation where he travelled to Thailand to infiltrate its prisons as a Catholic priest. He interviewed some Ghanaian and West African prisoners about the maltreatment and deaths of foreign prisoners in jail, exposing the abuse of expatriates in Thai prisons.
As a result of Anas’ work, the government of Ghana successfully negotiated with the Thai government for the transfer of all convicted Ghanaian prisoners in Thailand to Ghana.
Eurofood Scandal (2006): An investigation by Anas in which he went undercover as menial worker at Eurofood, a biscuit and confectionery factory in Ghana. Eurofood was using expired and maggot-infested flour to produce biscuits for public consumption in Ghana and other parts of Africa.
Soja Bar Prostitution (2007): An investigation into one of the largest brothels in Ghana at the time. Anas went undercover by posing as a cleaner. He exposed how some teenagers were forced into prostitution.
He also exposed Soja Bar as a place for hardened criminals and the exploitation of women. Soja Bar was later demolished by Ghanaian authorities and some of the under-aged prostitutes were taken in by Ghana’s Social Welfare.
Imam’s School of Shock (2008): This is a story of a slave master who trafficked and abused 15 children in Ghana and Togo using an Islamic school as bait. He recruited young victims into a life of begging, using their efforts to amass significant wealth. Anas gathered evidence through the use of a hidden camera, which led to the arrest of the slave master.
Humans for Sale: Dons Exposed (2008): This was an investigation Anas carried out over an eight-month period. It spanned over five countries in West Africa and Europe. He worked to penetrate an international trafficking ring, gathered evidence to prosecute a political figure, rescued 17 girls about to be trafficked, exposed corrupt immigration officials, and stood as a witness in the trial.
Orphans Home of Hell (2010): Undercover in Ghana’s biggest state run orphanage. Exposed corruption and abuse of children in the facility.
In the Interest of the State (2010): Exposed cocoa smugglers and their cohorts in Ghana’s security system.
Inside Ghana’s Madhouse (2010): Undercover in Ghana’s biggest psychiatric hospital Anas exposed patient human rights abuses.
Four films in 2011 for Al Jazeera Africa Investigations in Sierra Leone (Timber); Ghana’s Gold; Fools’ Gold; and Spell of the Albino (Tanzania).
Enemies of the Nation (2011): Undercover to expose fraud and corruption at one of Ghana’s key points of entry, the Tema harbor.
Wild Ghana Project (2012): A look at how gullible and vulnerable customers can be exploited, featuring the “Abortion Lord” who had sex with his female clients when they came to him for abortions.
Deadly Gold (2012): An investigation into the negative effects of illegal gold mining in Ghana.
Dons of the Forest (2012): A follow-up to “In The Interest of The State” operation to busted a ring of people who diverted and sold fertilizers meant for the cocoa farmer.
The Prez’s Assignment – Stealing the People’s Power (2012: A three-phase investigation into the power distribution sector in Ghana. Exposed acts of corruption on the part of employees of power distribution company ECG (electricity company of Ghana) and indebtedness on the part of individuals and companies.
The Messiah of Mentukwa (2013): The story of how one woman, Helen Jesus Christ, set up a church in a remote village in Ghana’s hinterland and convinced members that Jesus Christ was coming soon and they could only be saved if they cut themselves off the rest of the world. With that came physical abuse and children being denied access to school.
Al Jazeera – People and Power, How to Robe Africa (2013): This was a film on how African businesses fleece their governments and stash these stolen funds in off-shore accounts. With journalist Stanley Kwenda.
Spirit Child (2013): Filmed in Northern Ghana, where Anas exposed the barbaric sacrifices of children who were believed to bring ill luck to their families. The story led to the arrest of some fetish priests, with Anas advocating for the prosecution of such persons.
Al Jazeera Africa Investigates – Nigeria’s Fake Doctors (2014): Anas teamed up with colleague Rosemary Nwaebuni to investigate the activities of quack doctors who risk the lives of vulnerable people in Nigeria. The film led to the arrest of two people who were using pharmacy shops and beer parlours as operating theaters for patients who were in desperate need of medical attention. It presents bogus doctors with no medical qualifications and little knowledge providing illegal abortions and the resultant fatal injuries.
Ghana Food for Thought (2014): Focuses on stealing and corruption in the process of supplying donated food to its intended recipients. Anas went undercover to expose the activities of some Ghana Health Service officers who ran a corrupt business selling food donated by the World Food Program (WFP) and destined free-of-charge to disadvantaged children in the north. Three people were arrested.
Ghana Sex Mafia (2014): Film built on the Chinese Sex Mafia story of February 2009. Tells the story of Chinese girls trafficked into Ghana and how Anas went undercover to bust the ring and testified in court leading to the prosecution of the traffickers.
Ghana’s Soul Takers (2014): This was a three part investigative documentary that was centered on road safety. The first part looked at driver licensing and the corruption and fraud it is fraught with.
The second installment, Doom – the silent killer next door, tells three social interest stories of how families lost loved ones to the carnage on Ghana’s roads, and highlighted some of the dangers associated with commercial transport.
The third part examines police corruption and the tacit contribution of Ghana’s traffic police (the Motor Traffic and Transport Department, MTTD) of the Police Service.
Ghana Judiciary Scandal (2015): On 23 September 2015 Anas premiered, in four showings, in front of a record-breaking audience of more than 6500 people at the Accra International Conference Center, his undercover film “Ghana In The Eyes Of God”. It exposed widespread corruption within the judiciary and graphically showed court workers like clerks and bailiffs connive with a number of respected judges to influence court cases through bribes. 34 judges and magistrates were caught on a hidden camera receiving enticements of money, goats, sheep and even foodstuff. As a result, presumed robbers, murderers, drug traffickers, rapists and litigants in land cases went free. The film effectively created a deep and destabilizing crises of conscience in Ghanaian society.
A disciplinary committee of the Judicial Council was set up to probing the allegations of bribery and extortion against the thirty-four judges and magistrates. At one point it had to have suspended its sittings following a suit by 14 Circuit Court judges at the Fast Track High Court challenging the legality or otherwise of the procedure adopted by the committee to investigate the matter.
More than 100 members of staff of the Judicial Service were then investigated after Anas submitted a petition and videos showing the affected staff receiving bribes to compromise cases. Anas has asked for the dismissal of the affected persons and as a result, the Judicial Council has begun investigations into the matter once again. The affected judges have since been suspended. Anas was given protection from prosecution but the situation remains tense. The effect of his documentary film was heightened by a number of pop songs, cartoons and other public shows of support.
On 7 December, The Council unanimously decided to remove from office 20 out of the 21 Judges and Magistrates cited in the petition. Some were removed from office without benefits and others with benefits. Those removed with benefits were remorseful when they appeared before the Committee and apologized profusely to the people of Ghana and the Judiciary for bringing the name of the institution into disrepute by their conduct. The Council, where Anas is personally presenting the evidence, resumed sitting mid-January 2016 to continue probing into the rest of the cases.
Nigeria’s Baby Farmers (2015): In this episode of Africa Investigates, journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and investigative reporter Rosemary Nwaebuni went undercover to identify and expose some of those behind Nigeria’s baby trade. The trade exploits couples desperate for a baby and young pregnant single mothers — often stigmatised in a country where abortion is illegal except in the most dire medical emergency. It is also a trade that international NGOs have identified as sinister and out of control.
The team found bogus doctors and clinics offering spurious fertility treatments in return for large amounts of money. In their guise as a childless couple, Anas and Rosemary were falsely diagnosed by one clinician as being unable to conceive children.
Number 12 (2018): This investigative work by Anas focuses on corruption in the Ghana Football Association (GFA). Portions of the investigative piece were shown privately to President Nana Akufo-Addo. In the video, Kwesi Nyantakyi – the President of the GFA – is filmed appearing to be soliciting for bribes from some football investors using the name of the President, Vice President and other senior members in Government. The President lodged a complaint about the conduct of Nyantakyi with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service. He was arrested and later granted bail.
After being provisionally banned by FIFA, Nyantakyi resigned as the president of Ghana Football Association, and quit his roles as a member of the FIFA Council, member of the FIFA Associations Committee, First Vice President of CAF and President of Zone B of the West African Football Union (WAFU).
The Ghana Football Association was also dissolved.
Torture Home (2019): “Torture Home, when a man of god abuses children” is an investigation an Echoing Hill village orphanage run by Baptist Pastor Lawrence Lamina. It uncovers widespread child abuse, neglect and thievery of food donation at the hand of the pastor and his “caretakers.”
Kwesi Nyantakyi, the former president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), reacted to the dismissal ofAnas Aremeyaw Anas‘ defamation lawsuit against Kennedy Agyapong.
In 2018, Anas filed a GH¢25 million defamation lawsuit against Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central in the Central Region, but the court ruled on March 15 that the claim is without merit.
In a lengthy ruling, Justice Eric Baah held that the plaintiff [Anas Aremeyaw Anas] failed to prove that Kennedy Agyapong defamed the investigative journalist by airing the documentary – “Who watches the watchman.”
Speaking on Accra-based Oman FM earlier today, Mr. Nyantakyi said “the High Court’s decision testifies to the truth that Anas Aremeyaw Anas is not honest but as described by the court, he is a blackmailer and an extortionist.”
“The judge also described his job as an investigative terrorist instead of an investigative journalist. He has been totally disgraced. He once portrayed himself as an angel, but today I’m not even sure he is at the devil’s level yet.”
In June 2018, the former member of Fifa’s executive council was filmed taking $65,000 in cash from an undercover reporter in a film captured by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas which was aired by BBC Africa’s investigations unit, Africa Eye.
Nyantakyi was pictured placing the “shopping money” into a black plastic bag from an undercover reporter pretending to be a businessman keen to invest in Ghanaian football.
He later agreed to what he believed to be a sponsorship deal for the Ghana FA, which he had presided over since 2005. The bogus deal, invented by the reporters, would have enabled millions of dollars in commission to be paid to a company controlled by him.
This cost him his positions as FIFA Council Member and 1st Vice President of CAF.
Having avoided a GH25 million lawsuit from Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Kennedy Agyapong appears to be the happiest man in Ghana right now.
The Ghanaian investigative journalist sued the politician in 2018 over his ‘Who Watches The Watchman’ documentary. Anas claimed in his lawsuit that Mr Agyapong defamed him in a documentary that he aired on various platforms.
Anas requested that the court award damages to Agyapong and compel him to clear his name. The High Court, however, presided over by Justice Eric Baah, ruled that Anas Aremeyaw Anas had failed to prove that Ken Agyapong defamed him by airing the documentary.
This has left Kennedy Agyapong coming out victorious from the suit. To celebrate his win, a champagne party was held by the Assin Central MP and his staff, friends and family. In videos from the celebration, they talked about the case whilst they drink and dine.
In the video below, the excited NPP flag bearer aspirant, in his kaftan and barefooted, was spotted grabbing a glass of champagne, cheering to toast and sipping out of joy.
In the court’s view, the documentary in question rather exposed shady deals that Anas and his associates were involved in.
In a lengthy ruling, the court said that Agyapong provided sufficient evidence to prove that the Anas used the findings of his work to solicit money from persons implicated in the evidence gathered in his investigations.
It added that evidence also proved that those who were able to pay the sums of money demanded by Anas and his associates got exempted from videos that were shown to the public.
Following a High Court decision on the defamation case involving renowned investigativejournalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, Kwesi Nyantakyi, the former president of the Ghana Football Association, is claiming vindication.
According to Kwesi Nyantakyi, who spoke to Oman FM, the court’s decision clears him of blame and supports his suspicion that Anas is dishonest.
As a result of the court decision, according to Nyantakyi, Anas has been revealed, but he is not surprised because he has known all along that the investigative journalist is a crook and not who he claims to be.
“The court has stripped him naked. He has been disgraced. He claims to be an angel but the court has shown that he is worse than the devil. I will take no further action but his story is everywhere. He is a bad person and now he has been exposed. A lot of people know him as a crook,” he said.
The Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 dismissed the ¢25 million defamation suit brought to him by Anas and asked the investigative journalist to compensate Kennedy Agyapong with ¢50,000.
Speaking after the court ruling, Kennedy Agyapong stated that his win was dedicated to the former GFA president who was humiliated in the documentary.
Kennedy Agyapong also turned down the ¢50,000 awarded by the court for him and cautioned Anas to be conscious of his actions.
“All I will say is the victory is especially for Kwesi Nyantakyi and this gentleman. What they have gone through in Anas’s humiliation in this country, nobody should go through that,” Kennedy Agyapong told the press.
He added, “I will tell you today, the ¢50,000 I don’t need it, I will give it to him but he should live with his conscience.”
Anas in 2018 sued the New Patriotic Party lawmaker for allegedly defaming him after the release of his famous Number 12 documentary which sort to uncover the rot in Ghana Football.
The popular investigative journalist asked the court to award ¢25 million to Kennedy Agyapong for defaming him in his ‘Who watches the watchman’ counter documentary.
However, ruling over the case in court on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Justice Eric Baah stated that Anas Aremeyaw Anas failed to prove he was defamed by the lawmaker.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anashas been informed by the Accra High Court that his tactics are not those of investigative journalism but rather “investigative terrorism.”
This emerged after the court dismissed a GHC25 million defamation lawsuit the journalist had filed against Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central.
According to a report by asaaseradio.com, the judge, Justice Eric Baah, ruled that the MP was justified to refer to Anas as “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil.”
He added that “I find claims by the plaintiff (Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed.”
Background
Sometime in 2018, the ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defaming him.
Anas was asking the High Court to award aggravated damages to the tune of GH¢25 million arising from defamatory materials published by the MP.
He said the MP had been publishing materials in his bid to discredit him after releasing an explosive piece on the rot in Ghana football.
Displeased with the MP’s actions, Anas, through his lawyer, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, sued Mr Agyapong for the award of general damages for defamation in the defendant’s publications.
A journalist, Mr Listowell Yesu Bukarson, has been granted the lawful attorney to stand in for Anas.
Publications
The publication complained of are May 29, 2018, live programme in Twi on Adom TV, where Mr Agyapong categorically stated that Anas was a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist and evil.
According to the statement of claim, the defendant, in a similar manner, published defamatory words on May 31, 2018, via Oman FM, a private radio station owned by the defendant.
The statement of claim also stated that the defendant published more defamatory materials against the plaintiff via other platforms to the extent of releasing pictures purported to be those of the investigative journalist in his bid to blow the latter’s cover.
On March 15, 2023, an Accra High Court chaired over by Judge Eric Baah found that Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the representative for Assin Central, was right in labeling investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas a thief and a corrupt individual, among other things.
The judge stated in his decision, which the media was able to view, that the MP should be commended rather than penalized for his persistent attacks on the journalist, which led to the filing of a GH25 million defamation lawsuit by Anas.
“In all honesty, the plot by plaintiff and his group in exhibit KOA4 has nothing to do with journalism. It was a scheme for grabbing power by the back door and satisfying plaintiff’s insatiable taste for power, publicity, fame, awards, and rewards.
“Since the president is an embodiment of the soul of the nation, any unwarranted plot out of nothing to entrap him to destroy his reputation and undermine his authority is reproachable. The attacks of defendant on plaintiff on that ground deserves commendation and not condemnation,” the judge said while making reference to some work done by Anas in the past for which Kennedy Agyapong in various pronouncements accused him of attempting to entrap some political figures in the sub-region.
“I hold in respect of exhibits KOA3 and KOA4, that any statements based on them were justified and passed the test of fair comment. “In the result, the court finds established the defence of justification and fair comment in relation to the statements of defendant based on exhibits KOA1, KOA2, KOA3 and KOA4. Since those statements were justified, they could not have actually defamed the plaintiff,” Justice Baah added.
Anas vs. Ken Agyapong defamation case
Anas, filed a case in 2018, seeking among other reliefs monetary damages to the tune of GH¢25 million.
According to him, the MP had caused injury to his reputation by labelling him as a thief, killer, extortionist, and corrupt among other things.
However, the court presided by Justice Eric Baah despite finding various claims made by the defendant against the plaintiff as potentially defamatory, ruled that the comments were factual and fair.
The court subsequently dismissed the suit and awarded the defendant a sum of 50,000 Ghana cedis to cover his legal costs.
The MP has subsequently referred to the ruling as a victory for straight talk over investigative terrorism.
Whiles, the journalist also expressed grave misgivings about the ruling describing it in part as a travesty of justice. His statement, however, stopped short of confirming whether he will appeal the ruling.
The video titled “Who is the watchman’s watchman”? became the second most anticipated video after an investigative documentary titled “Number 12” aired in June 2018.
In this video, investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposes the corruption in the soccer industry by describing how Kwesi Nyantakyi, the former GFA boss, and other National Sports Authority officials colluded to rig the Ghanaian football championship.
Assin Central’s Kennedy Agyapong, a member of parliament, then surrounded him, accusing him of having many demons hidden in his closet.
He, therefore, aired a video; “Who watches the watchman” to counter the journalist’s investigative piece and to in his words, expose the journalist’s dubious secrets.
The video premiered at the forecourt of Ken City Media and attracted scores of Ghanaians. Following this, the journalist took the Member of Parliament to court over what he said was a slur on his image and character through the video.
Court judgement:
An Accra High Court on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, struck out the defamation suit brought by the journalist against the lawmaker, Kennedy Agyapong.
The plaintiff, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, filed the case in 2018, seeking among other reliefs monetary damages to the tune of GH¢25 million.
However, the court presided by Justice Eric Baah despite finding various claims made by the defendant against the plaintiff as potentially defamatory, ruled that the comments were factual and fair.
The court subsequently dismissed the suit and awarded the defendant a sum of 50,000 Ghana cedis to cover his legal costs.
The presiding judge in a GHC25 million defamation case filed against theMember of Parliament for Assin Central ruled that the accusations made against the plaintiff, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, were appropriate.
The judge, Judge Eric Baah, concluded that the MP Kennedy Agyapong‘s accusations against the undercover investigative journalist accurately reflect the type of job the journalist undertakes.
In a report by asaaseradio.com, the judge, who dismissed the suit brought by Anas, explained that what the journalist practices as investigative journalism is rather ‘investigative terrorism.’
By this, he ruled that it was justified for Kennedy Agyapong to describe his tactics as corrupt.
Justice Eric Baah stress that the MP was justified to refer to Anas as “a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist, and evil.”
Dismissing the case, the judge said, “I find claims by the plaintiff (Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed,” the report added.
Background
Sometime in 2018, the ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defaming him.
Anas was asking the High Court to award aggravated damages to the tune of GH¢25 million arising from defamatory materials published by the MP.
He said the MP had been publishing materials in his bid to discredit him after releasing an explosive piece on the rot in Ghana football.
Displeased with the MP’s actions, Anas, through his lawyer, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, sued Mr Agyapong for the award of general damages for defamation in the defendant’s publications.
A journalist, Mr Listowell Yesu Bukarson, has been granted the lawful attorney to stand in for Anas.
Publications
The publication complained of are May 29, 2018, live programme in Twi on Adom TV, where Mr Agyapong categorically stated that Anas was a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist and evil.
According to the statement of claim, the defendant, in a similar manner, published defamatory words on May 31, 2018, via Oman FM, a private radio station owned by the defendant.
The statement of claim also stated that the defendant published more defamatory materials against the plaintiff via other platforms to the extent of releasing pictures purported to be those of the investigative journalist in his bid to blow the latter’s cover.
Investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has been informed by the Accra High Court that what he does is “investigative terrorism,” not investigative journalism.
This came after the court dismissed a GHC25 million defamation lawsuit Kennedy Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central, had filed against a journalist.
The media indicated that Judge Justice Eric Baah, determined that the MP refer to Anas as “evil, corrupt, a blackmailer and an extortionist.”
He added that “I find claims by the plaintiff (Anas Aremeyaw Anas) meritless and they are hereby dismissed.”
Background
Sometime in 2018, the ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defaming him.
Anas was asking the High Court to award aggravated damages to the tune of GH¢25 million arising from defamatory materials published by the MP.
He said the MP had been publishing materials in his bid to discredit him after releasing an explosive piece on the rot in Ghana football.
Displeased with the MP’s actions, Anas, through his lawyer, Mr Kissi Agyebeng, sued Mr Agyapong for the award of general damages for defamation in the defendant’s publications.
A journalist, Mr Listowell Yesu Bukarson, has been granted the lawful attorney to stand in for Anas.
Publications
The publication complained of are May 29, 2018, live programme in Twi on Adom TV, where Mr Agyapong categorically stated that Anas was a blackmailer, corrupt, an extortionist and evil.
According to the statement of claim, the defendant, in a similar manner, published defamatory words on May 31, 2018, via Oman FM, a private radio station owned by the defendant.
The statement of claim also stated that the defendant published more defamatory materials against the plaintiff via other platforms to the extent of releasing pictures purported to be those of the investigative journalist in his bid to blow the latter’s cover.
