In yet another twist to the Anas-BBC saga the British Broadcaster has announced they are working on a new project with Ghana’s tiger-eyed investigative journalist.
According to an updated statement from the BBC, whilst they did not work with Anas on ‘Number 12’ as they earlier clarified, they have not disowned or disavowed him as the Ghanaian media is seeking to portray.
Another controversy struck at ‘Number 12’ after an inquiry from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) led to a response from the BBC in which they disagreed with assertions by Kweku Baako that the documentary into corruption in Ghana football was a ‘joint venture’ between Tiger Eye and the BBC.
The BBC clarified that they produced their own documentary on ‘Number 12’ but at no point did they work together with Anas.
Kweku Baako later came out to apologize, admitting he had made a mistake classifying the documentary as a joint venture.
“I had said so publicly that it was a joint project . . . why I said so was because the people who were dealing with Anas three of them I know for the last 30 to 40 years were BBC people. Apparently, they’ve left BBC but they’re part of the technical team. They came to me, I dealt with them on so many things . . . so I assumed.
“So I was wrong . . . and that is why the BBC made Anas to go on air to clear the misconception…I accept responsibility for what I put out there and if people got deceived I apologize.” he said.
However, some people have taken the BBC’s statement as a condemnation of Anas but their new statement puts that to bed.
According to the BBC, their statement is not a disavowal of Anas and indeed, they are currently working jointly on a new program.
“Dear followers, please note that reports circulating in the media that #BBCAfricaEye is distancing itself from Anas Aremeyaw Anas are completely untrue. In fact, we are currently working with Anas on a new project.” the BBC Africa twitter account posted.
”When we produced our exclusive Africa Eye film, Betraying the Game, we made it perfectly clear from the outset that this was a documentary about his investigation.
”Anas has himself confirmed this and agreed that our documentary would include questions about his methods as well as his extraordinary revelations, which were clearly overwhelmingly in the public interest to report.”