Number12: The fallout, the fight and the noise

The ‘allegators’ have spat onto the Eye of the Tiger and the tiger has roared back with vim.

And then the story begins. So the Anas Exposé #Number12 was premiered successfully and since aired amidst all the hullaballoo. Yes, you heard me right. Hullaballoo. Despite all the news of the several threats and attempts by different bigwig personalities seeking injunctions against Anas Aremeyaw Anas with regards to the airing/premiering of #Number12, nothing could stop it. It premiered, it showed, and it conquered. For some, Number 12 was always going to be the straw that broke the Camel’s back. Since its announcement, it has gathered far more attention than “Ghana in the eyes of God”. The show seem to have only just began. Anas’ vim and vigour is even building up and going higher and higher. I do not know whether to call this whole revolution against Anas and the Tiger Eye PI team a drama, ‘documentary’ or simply concert party.

Let us get into it. For emphasis, I like to start by saying that Anas, Aremeyaw Anas is a household name in Ghana. A journalist, a popular and a revered one of course. He has not always appealed to the top dawgs but for the masses, he is their hero whether you like it or not. Let’s face it, “there is no point in doing journalism, that doesn’t benefit society”? That is what Anas likes to do and that is what he does best and has been doing for about two decades now. He has done so many projects and we have applauded him for it. The big question now is, why now? Why all of a sudden? Our Elders say blood is thicker than water, they do not say rich man’s blood is thicker than poor man’s blood. I hope you can feel the flow already. I will return to this in my next article.

For now, let me deal with this issue of the so-called allegations against Anas. They seem to be mounting and mounting by the day yet without any proper feet to stand on. The question again is, why now? Uh? Why now? It doesn’t look like these allegations would be going away anytime soon but believe you me and I know this for a fact that these allegations doesn’t even tear Anas’ button to even touch his shirt. He’s resolute and focused than ever before. Against no go chop. Skin pain no go win. You are feeling the flow now, right? I must point out that I am no spokesperson for Anas but an observer of the trends and one who comments only when necessity calls. After all, they say necessity is the mother of invention.

Come with me now to the court of allegations and help me digest and dissect the truck load of allegations against Anas. You don’t need me to go over them one by one. Do you? He’s been called corrupt, blackmailer, extortionist, and the list goes on. I am sure you already have all the adjectives that have been used to describe Anas and their synonyms too.

It is very surprising that even though a lot of people – I say a lot people with emphasis – seem to be claiming that Anas is corrupt, has duped them, takes bribes or that they have incriminating evidence against Anas, they do not seem to be interested in taking any steps to take Anas to court or report the alleged crimes to the Police. First Question Mark! Even more surprising is the lack of any evidential capital to back any of these claims. Another question mark! Do you see a pattern here? Of course you do and it gets even better. It gets more worrying when even those who have been indicted by the court of public opinion, lost their jobs and prestige, etc as a result of Anas’ journalistic adventures seem to shy away from the task of taking on the challenge of providing anything of tangible material substance in support of their claims of entrapment, seduction, bribery, blackmail, encroachment on privacy, blah blah blah. You would think they would do so to, if anything at all, at least clear their names. I think I have your attention now so I will proceed. I will proceed steadily and with care and caution.

It is a natural and fundamental obligation of any citizen who has a “reasonable suspicion” or any sort of evidence at all that suggests that a crime has been committed, is being committed, or is about to be committed to inform the appropriate law enforcement agencies, The Police in most cases. This is not dependent on whether or not you trust or like the Police. It doesn’t and never should. You know The Police and trust issues is another discussion for another day. Let us stick with this subject matter for now.

Of course, another avenue for anyone who wants to make a lawful challenge against another person’s actions, inactions, character, and any default of any kind against the constitution is the option of going to court, right? I am no legal wizard so permit me to go at a snail’s pace when I use legal jargon or refer issues of some legal magnitude. That is not to say that my fundamental human right of freedom of speech can be infringed upon. My understanding is that in matter like these, you can go to the Police and you can go to court. Especially in matters of suspected crimes, one would expect expediency in the discharge of this fundamental function by the citizenry.

Although we seem to be swamped by a ‘congregation’ of allegations against Anas, it is amazing that that those “allegators” (please note spelling of allegators and the fact that it in inverted commas and has the “power of attorney” to represent his loyal friend “accusers” in this matter) seem to feel comfortable making these allegations in the media yet they refuse to take the case to Anas. They refuse to go to the Police and refuse to file a court case against Anas. Is there something we don’t know? Or better still is there something we should know? Anyone who supports the rule of law and the principle of naming and shaming would expect the accusers of Anas to use the same enthusiasm to take reasonable steps to take Anas to court to settle the matter with the due process of the law. I lie? Remember Kwame A Plus says any “Ghanaian” can go to court so I am sure you see another question mark here even though I am about to use a full stop. By the way, I know Kwame A Plus will forgive me because I have misquoted him small. He didn’t quite say “Ghanaian”. In fact, he used a more powerful word but I chose to use Ghanaian in its place in order to hold tight the sanity of this discussion.

Back to the issue now. If Anas has duped anyone, what prevents the person from following due process and taking the right steps to bring his/her case against Anas to the attention of law enforcement? Simple question but I am sure it would take years to get the simple answer it deserves. Please take Anas to court or report him to Police if he has duped you. Simple! Or they don’t have common goat to use as ‘evidence’ in a court case? Common goat.

Aaba! My ear self is about to break. If you turn left, this person says Anas has done this this. Turn right and there is another “Allegator” saying Anas has done this and that. Everywhere in Ghana and anywhere you see a group of Ghanaians, they are ‘talking about’ Anas. He is also someone’s son ooo. You praise Anas as the revered investigative journalist and he investigated you undercover and found what you do not want the world to see then you call him a crooked and controversial journalist? Anas, come for your stone.

The long and short of my long talk is that there are a lot of allegations against Anas yet they remain mere allegations. They have so far turned out to be allegations, I must stress. Let me ask you a quick question, if I may. If you hear a lot of unsubstantiated claims and allegations in the media against you (your person) which seem to be bothering on sabotage, libel, slander and defamation etc etc without any concrete evidence, what would you do? You would go to court, right? You would seek remedy, right? You would fight for a rejoinder, right?

Exactly! That is what Anas is doing. That is the very reason why he has sued. Anas has sued. Period! He’s ready with his team of lawyers to go to court and boy are we going to have a showdown of a lifetime. Some people say Ghana will turn upside down but I beg to differ. Ghana will be hot and sweet like hot banku with ground Kpakpo shito and fried fish. It will be sweet papa. By the way, did I forget to say, Anas is also a qualified lawyer? Please, pardon my haste. Let me say it before I forget. Anas is a lawyer oo so court will jam rough.

Of course, Anas will not speak in court. He doesn’t need to, does he? And why does seeing his face matter to you at all? He has sued by lawful attorney so he doesn’t even need to be in the court room. The legal professors will keep me right on this. He doesn’t even need to be in the court room, right? In any case, I strongly urge you to hold tight to your seats, Anas might be the one sitting right next to you in court. Oh yes, I am 99.9% sure that he will be in court but you will not see him. No gimmicks, no hidden cameras. He will be watching from start to finish with eagle eyes. You can be sure of the spectacle and the media attention. Ebaafee gbeyei k?k?.

I “arrest” my case for now. How I wish Lawyer Nti would be representing Anas in court.

I am not a judge, besides I do not chop goat meat so no one should come and see me in ‘chambers’. I repeat, no one should attempt to come and see me in chambers.

The ‘allegators’ have spat onto the Eye of the Tiger and the tiger has roared back with vim.

God bless our homeland Ghana and make our nation great and strong.

Copyright © 2018 Ezekiel A. Johnson