The Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho has asked persons especially in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who have problems with Investigative Journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his style of journalism to quit the blabbing and deal with the consequences of their ‘boss’, President Akufo-Addo’s actions.
Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong who recently launched a full blown attack on Anas has on several occasions expressed his dislike for the ‘faceless’ journalist, mainly because he believes Anas’ modus operandi is questionable and in most cases illegal.
Mr. Agyapong accused Anas of being corrupt, a thief amongst several other demeaning allegations.
These reactions, coming from the NPP camp, prompted Mr. Anyidoho to remind the NPP’s of something President Nana Akufo-Addo said during a presidential debate in 2012.
“The bible says be careful what you ask for. President Akufo-Addo when he was inordinately seeking political power, was saying all kinds of things at an IEA debate, I think it must have been 2012, that given the opportunity to become president, he will live by the Anas principle. God has made him President, years down the line and the Anas principle is at play. Why are his people upset with Anas. They asked for it and they have gotten it. They should be happy. Why are they upset?” he quizzed.
The President throughout his run for the Presidential seat promised to fight corruption to the bone through, among other things, the use of the “Anas principle”.
Responding to a question on what he would do, to eradicate corruption in the finance sector, the President reportedly suggested that his administration was going to motivate young people to do covert investigations, particularly within revenue collection agencies as a way to end the canker.
‘’The measures are going to be difficult but there has to be a variety of them including what I call the Anas principle; setting up highly motivated professional groups of young people who will work undercover to unearth examples of corruption wherever they can find it and thereby allow the authority to deal with the issue. It is not only to unearth corruption but you actually deal with it. It will result in people being sent to court, prosecuting them hopefully…and make sure the offenders are found guilty and appropriate sanctions enforced. So [I will] have a variety of measures but the key one is the Anas principle,” the president reportedly said.
Mr. Anyidoho speaking on the matter went on to express joy at the effect the recent Anas expose even though not yet out, is having on some NPP members.
He praised Anas and thanked him for a good job done.
“Now the Anas principle simply means, you can investigate subterfuge, immoral means, illegal means to seek the truth or unearth crime. So for me I am happy that the man asked for Anas principle and the Anas principle is at play. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. God bless Anas. Let the Anas principle continue to unfold and unwind. And let the NPP continue to swim in heavy seas of turbulence.
Anas who has made a name for himself both locally and internationally with the simple principle to ‘name, shame and jail’, recently announced the viewing of his new expose on bad practices in the Ghanaian football space.
Following some revelation, the President of Ghana ordered the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to investigate Mr Nyantakyi, President of the Ghana Football Association, over fraud allegations after allegedly viewing excerpts of the said expose which implicated him.