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Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has said he is ready to face former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Martin Amidu in court.

According to him, if Mr Amidu has any issues with his style of unearthing corruption in Ghana he should follow due process and go to court.

In his opinion, “Uncle Martin has slipped and the earlier he admits it the better”. Nonetheless, he noted that he was ready to collaborate with him to move the country forward in her fight against corruption.
 
Mr Amidu has in the past week been throwing salvos at Anas over his recent investigations that caught some 180 officials of the Judicial Service on camera taking bribes and extorting money from litigants.

He also accused Anas of operating under a “fraudulent” company Tiger Eye PI to collaborate with government to tarnish the image of the legislative and judicial arms of government.

But speaking on Joy FM Tuesday, Anas noted that although he had on some occasions collaborated with government and certain individuals to expose rot, same could not be said of the judicial corruption scandal.

He noted that, “When it comes to this issue of collaborate I have never been shy about collaborations that I have. There are many collaborations. In Sierra Leone I did a collaboration, in Tanzania I did a collaboration with the Tanzanian government, in Seychelles I did a collaboration…Now, if I can collaborate in other countries, what stops me from collaborating in my own country.”

“In this case I have not. If I did, like I always do, the first thing you would see before my documentary is that I collaborated with this person and that person,” he added.

Responding to Mr Amidu’s claims of collaborating with government to bring the legislature and judiciary into disrepute, Anas said, “Uncle Martin’s claim is really getting interesting. I respect him so much. He does his own style of anti-corruption…I beg him, I also do mine. He should give me the freedom; he should not pick and choose what I should do.”

On allegations that he (Anas) had a video on parliamentary corruption, he noted that, “Parliament is there, if he (Amidu) wants to do Parliament, it’s all there. I don’t want to be seen in back and forth fight with him over this. It doesn’t mean well for the country.”

“If you think there is a problem with it, here’s the law court, you can go. If Uncle Martin thinks that this is so bad, the court is there. The going to court and all that strengthens our democracy. We will meet him there squarely, we will answer the questions. This is not a fight. It’s about nation building.”

Legitimacy of Tiger Eye PI

Responding to the legitimacy of Tiger Eye PI, Anas said he did not need any certificate to fight corruption in Ghana.

“Do you need certificate to fight corruption in Ghana? You don’t need any certificate to fight corruption in Ghana. I am certificated, I am properly registered,” he noted.

According to Anas, the back and forth with Mr Amidu was not necessary and that, “if anybody feels strongly that I am not properly certificated, let him proceed to court. We’ll meet him squarely, we’ll answer those questions, we’ll provide all those evidence and we’ll move on.”

Hooding

Anas, also questioned the legitimacy of some lawyers of the indicted judges who want him unmasked, saying, “What do you need my face for? What is on my face that will aid you? You’ve taken the money, you’ve taken, you have not, you have not…The evidence is not hooded. It’s there. All these accused persons have been given the opportunity. This is no joke. It’s strict proof.”

He explained that he would feel very disappointed if at the end of the day the commission set up by the Chief Justice denigrated the evidence before it.

“My biggest day is that day when these results will come. For me, it’s like an examination. I will feel very disappointed if at the end of the day there is a press conference to say in it he didn’t get anybody. I can’t live with that.”

Why the judiciary

Answering a question on why he targeted the Judiciary and not any other institution, Anas said “the judiciary is our hope whenever there’s any sort of trouble. Judges are gods in the guise of men.”

According to him, when he set out to start his investigations, he did not expect to uncover such rot.

He said his purpose for choosing the judiciary was due to the sentiments that people were expressing over the country’s judicial system.

“We listen to the people and when they point us to a direction, we want to look at that direction,” Anas said.

Funding

In the judicial corruption scandal, Anas and his team were seen giving out huge sums of monies to some of the court clerks and judges who were implicated in the video.

The amounts ranged from GH¢10 to GH¢30,000. Others also received goats, sheep and foodstuffs in their chambers and homes.

Responding to how he managed to fund the investigation, Anas had this to say: “Indeed, this investigation caused a bit because we had to give real cash out. There are well-meaning Ghanaians who believe in this country and when you do a good work some of them stretch their hands to help you.”