Anas’ next exposé won’t be about politicians – Sammy Darko

Sammy Darko, one of the lawyers for investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has disclosed that his client’s next investigative exposé dubbed ‘Cashing in on COVID’ will not be about politicians nor public figures.

He explained that because 2020 happens to be an election year for Ghana, Anas would not want to produce any work that will swing the way the elections will go.

“Political parties must compete based on their own records and [the] opinions the voting public holds [about] each of them prior to and during an election year. So yes, I am sure many may be expecting his [Anas] health COVID-19 related stories to expose high profile figures, politicians and public figures. But this won’t be about them,” a post on Sammy Darko’s Facebook Timeline read.

He noted that the expectations of Anas’ big exposés are often good and challenging. Good because the public has high expectations of his work, that he is arguably one of the best to unravel corruption in high places. “Challenging in the fact that the human-interest stories from health and safety to social phenomena are not appreciated by those with adrenaline for the wild.

“But these kinds of stories rather ought to be the wild [...] it’s about your health, your safety, social problems. He cannot and should not stop doing such stories.”

Sammy Darko indicated that some naysayers often say “now people are not queuing to watch his exposés” adding that what “Anas and his team put up for public viewing are the ones that take years to investigate [...] at least 2 to 3 years.

Such stories, he explained, are produced once in a while for instance “Ghana in the eyes of God” also known as Judge's scandal, produced in 2015 and “Number12” in 2018.

“So yes, his team works towards one big story for public viewing that takes longer to investigate, then there are the regular stories which take less than a year to produce. The regular stories are never premiered for public viewings but it is shown on national television as well as on international channels like BBC, Aljazeera, among others.”

Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ latest investigative piece ‘Cashing in on COVID’ will be dealing with how some individuals are exploiting the global pandemic and profiting from the sale of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

This is Anas’ second investigative piece to be broadcast since the country recorded its first two cases of the novel Coronavirus in March. Anas Aremeyaw Anas in his first investigation exposed how some quacks and thieves have been using COVID-19 as an excuse to milk Ghanaians.

Corona Quacks, done in collaboration with the BBC Africa Eye team, focuses on the Ghana government’s fight against the novel coronavirus and how some persons are milking Ghanaians dry.

‘Cashing in on COVID’ will be airing on Monday, August 9, 2020.

Read below Sammy Darko’s full post.