General News of Monday, 28 May 2018
Source: citinewsroom.com
2018-05-28
Franklin Cudjoe, President of IMANI Africa
President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa says investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tigereye PI team made a great mistake by allowing President Nana Akufo-Addo to watch his exposé on the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
According to him, since Akufo-Addo’s name was reportedly mentioned in the video, it was wrong for him to have viewed it before the advertised public screening date.
Mr. Cudjoe argued that the move will allow the president and those indicted in the video more time to prepare their defence.
“According to Mr Kweku Baako, there was apparently some gentleman’s agreement to the extent that the president was to take a view of the video; I think that process is fundamentally flawed. If indeed you have done your work, and you wanted everybody to see it, showing it to a certain group of people, per their class or because they have been mentioned actually gives them opportunity and time to prepare their statements and alibis, which is exactly what this seems to play out,” the IMANI boss argued.
President Akufo-Addo after viewing excerpts of the video, last week, ordered the arrest of the President of the GFA, Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Mr Nyantakyi is reported to have used the name of President Akufo-Addo and his Vice to negotiate a deal in the yet-to-be-screened video.
Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, editor-in-chief of the New Crusading Guide [a newspaper Anas worked for], had explained that Nana Akufo-Addo was given a chance to watch portions of the video, especially parts where his name was allegedly mentioned, in order to record his [Akufo-Addo’s] reactions ahead of the public viewing.
But Franklin Cudjoe on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue last Saturday, said the process is flawed.
“I’m not questioning motives; I’m just saying that the way this thing plays out is different when there is an executive viewing where top leaders in the country together with the presidency and his ministers were watching, it gives it some level of authenticity.”
“I don’t think the judges got this snip preview or even the persons who were affected by the judges’ decision got previews of the video,” Mr Cudjoe added.