Akufo-Addo Has Dumped His Own Anas Principle--KK Anyimah

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo is running from ‘Anas principle’ – one of the anti-corruption methods he promised to use to combat graft in his government, Emmanuel KK Anyimah has averred.

Anyimah, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team, is of the view that the president is not committed to fighting corruption in his government because he has abandoned one of the principles he promised to fight corruption with while in opposition.

In the run-up to the 2012 general elections, Akufo-Addo who was then the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) mentioned at a debate organized by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) that one of the tools to combat graft in his government would be “the Anas Principle”, giving credence to the investigate style of ace undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, that unveiled serious corruption in state institutions and got state officials prosecuted.

Anas’ investigations have exposed corruption among customs officials at the Tema Port, top judges, football officials among others. One of his recent investigation that exposed corruption in Ghana football dubbed ‘Number 12’ led to Ghana Football Association (GFA), President Kwesi Nyantakyi losing his job as the FA boss.

Nyantakyi who was captured in the Number 12 exposé engaging in some alleged shady deals had already been banned for life by the world football governing body, FIFA.

In the videotape, Nyantakyi had said to investigators who had posed as investors how close he was to President Akufo-Addo and promised to grant them access to him once they paid some amount of money.

He alleged the president owed people who funded his 2016 campaign and needed money to settle the debts and quoted millions of US dollars the supposed investors needed to give to the president and his vice before they could get access to them.

The president reportedly engaged the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to probe Mr. Nyantakyi after ‘Number 12’ was screened publicly. However, 9 months after the exposé, Nyantakyi is yet to be prosecuted.

But speaking on Ete Sen On Radio XYZ on Wednesday, KK Anyimah argued that president Akufo-Addo is not committed to fighting corruption hence his failure to “prosecute Nyantakyi who is known to be closer to him [Akufo-Addo].”

“You [Akufo-Addo] trumpeted while in opposition to use the ‘Anas principle’ when elected, but in power, you are running from your own words,” he added.

Anas Worried
KK Anyimah’s reactions come at a time Anas Aremeyaw Anas has begun an online petition to get Kwesi Nyantakyi prosecuted.

Anas says he is alarmed that months after his undercover `was premiered, no proper action has been taken against Mr. Nyantakyi by the government of Ghana.

“Police have completed investigations into likely criminal misconduct by Mr. Nyantakyi. They submitted their findings to the Attorney General last year [2018]. The Attorney General has not taken any action on the case till date. Please help us ask the Attorney General to move this case forward. Mr. Nyantakyi should face criminal prosecution over some of his misconduct, which borders on criminality,” Anas said in a writeup on the online petition platform.

He also expressed shock that the Attorney General has failed to take up the matter despite the circumstantial evidence that compelled FIFA to ban Nyantakyi.

---Myxyzonline.com