Anas’s expose not sufficient for prosecution — Former Attorney-General

A former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Marietta Brew Appiah-Opong, has suggested a full-scale investigation into the Anas video on corruption in football. 

She told the Daily Graphic that no one could go to court based on the film alone.
“It is very important to investigate the video thoroughly because it is not sufficient to use only the film to prosecute,” Mrs Appiah-Opong noted.

The premiering of the undercover investigative movie, dubbed “When Misconduct and Greed Become the Norm,” lived up to its billing as an explosive piece when it aired on June 6, 2018, in Accra.

It attracted hundreds of patrons who cheered, booed, laughed and screamed at the scenes.

The documentary had to be paused several times to cool the “tempers” of viewers who were visibly shocked at the ease with which the investigative team of Anas Aremeyaw Anas bribed more than 70 referees, match commissioners, officials of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), officials of the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the Ministry of Sports with sums as low as GH¢300 to influence the award of red cards, yellow cards, penalties and visa deals.

Money paid to the officials ranged from GH¢300 to GH¢5,000.

The President of the GFA, Mr Kwasi Nyantakyi, was paid the highest amount of $65,000 for assuring the investors, who later turned out to be Anas’s team members, of his readiness to get them good sponsorship deals and juicy contracts in government.

Majority of the recipients of the bribes showed signs of excitement. One particular referee prayed for the Anas team and blessed them several times.

Mrs Appiah-Opong said “the film also shows something has happened. The police need to move in to gather raw material, take statements from the people involved and decide whether or not to investigate further. We have seen money changing hands ostensibly to fix matches but the investigators need to watch the full film and not what we saw in order to build solid dockets to make cases against these people.”

“There is obviously incidents of corruption, match-fixing, buying of yellow, red cards and penalties and for that reason, the investigative body need to lay hands on the film, gather evidence and build docket for the case,” she added.

Patrons lined up at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Thursday to view the second-day screening of the Anas video.

Some reported at the AICC six hours before the screening. Patrons who spoke to the Daily Graphic said they were shocked and disappointed to see people trusted with authority taking money to influence the outcome of the beautiful game of football.

They called for the prosecution of the officials caught on video for taking bribes.

 

Credit: Graphic online

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