The hard-earned reputation and credibility of ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremyaw Anas seems to be under another attack as it appears it’s buried with more controversies.
This time new ‘revelations’ about his identity and modus operandi of his work has allegedly emerged on social media.
One of several people in the Ghanaian political landscape who is known to be the thorn in the flesh of Anas Aremyaw Anas is the NPP Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong, who has on several occasions doubted the credibility of the ace investigative journalist.
The lawmaker has over the past few months since the release of Anas’ Number 12 – a documentary which revealed corruption in the Ghana Football Association, spearheaded by the then president of the association, Kwesi Nyantakyi – accused the journalist of perpetuating corruption in his bid to entrap innocent public officials.
However, following the emergence of a new video supposedly exposing the true identity of Anas Aremyaw Anas as a con man who uses his name and role in the media to blackmail people, a debate is rising about the possible vindication of Kennedy Agyapong.
“He said he’s Anas Aremeyaw. He’s coming to claim. Today I’ve got Anas. Somebody has title, you’re coming to claim that you’re Anas Aremeyaw Anas,” the visibly upset looking man is heard shouting the journalist’s name and questioning his authenticity in the video.
Neither Anas nor his lawyers have officially responded to the trending video. The Assin Central lawmaker has also not made any public pronouncements.
But in June 2018, after the release of the Number 12 documentary, Mr Agyapong in several TV and radio interviews alleged amongst other things that Anas is a fraud boy who dupes people of their money and properties in the name of investigative journalism.
“This is not the end of it all. In the coming days, I’ll also show Anas in different recordings deceiving people to take money as gifts and he later capturing them to put out there. What kind of cruelty is that?” Mr Agyapong is quoted to have said in an interview after he released the first part of his documentary ‘Who watches the watchman’.
While on Adom TV, the legislator challenged Anas to provide concrete evidence on his source of wealth, alleging that the investigative journalist has acquired estates and lands together with other vast assets by extorting monies from people.
He also added that Anas employed the services of land guards to terrorize people and plunder two lands at Trade Fair in Accra.
"The guy is not genuine. He's blackmailing people. He's extortionist, taking monies from people. He is evil. He’s an extortionist. He is a blackmailer," the vociferous politician said.
Even though facts about the video have not been established yet, some have argued it 'vindicates' Kennedy Agyapong for allegations against the Anas.
The journalist's credibility also suffered a major blow after Kwesi Nyanktakyi accused him of blackmail and extortion.
Mr Nyantakyi is quoted to have said in an interview that, "...there was a demand on me through a third party to part with $150,000 for Anas to drop the videos on me. I didn’t have the said amount of money to meet his demand."
These are not the only instances where the integrity of Anas Aremyaw Anas has been questioned however, daring accusations directed at the journalist have over the months been met with legal suits.
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