Ghana’s corruption fighter stays hidden

FEW people in Ghana would be able to recognise Anas Aremeyaw Anas on the street -- but almost everyone knows his name and his burgeoning reputation as the country’s anticorruption hero.

The journalist keeps his identity a closely guarded secret and on camera wears a trademark hooded tunic, his face covered by a veil of red-and-white beads.

His latest documentary, Number 12, was released on Wednesday last week, and as the start of the World Cup finals loomed, detonated with the force of a bomb. In it, he and his team of reporters caught dozens of football referees and officials accepting bribes.

The head of the Ghana Football Association, Kwesi Nyantakyi, was accused of requesting $11-million (R145.4-million) to secure government contracts.

He later stepped down and apologised unreservedly after world football’s governing body Fifa launched an ethics investigation into his activities.

Ghana’s government is trying to tackle corruption, which special prosecutor Martin Amidu has called “an invisible violence that kills millions without anybody seeing it”.

Anas has already shone a light on graft in the judicial system. Soccer, he says, is a symbol of a wider problem of pay-offs in Ghana and Africa as a whole.

“We have a decision to make, either save our continent or not,” he said.

“This is not just about football.” – AFP