1 00:00:01,122 --> 00:00:05,119 I am sorry I cannot show you my face, 2 00:00:05,119 --> 00:00:10,205 because if I do, the bad guys will come for me. 3 00:00:10,205 --> 00:00:14,293 My journey started 14 years ago. 4 00:00:14,293 --> 00:00:18,705 I was a young reporter. I had just come out of college. 5 00:00:18,705 --> 00:00:21,407 Then I got a scoop. 6 00:00:21,407 --> 00:00:24,826 The scoop was quite a very simple story. 7 00:00:24,826 --> 00:00:27,430 Police officers were taking bribes 8 00:00:27,430 --> 00:00:30,966 from hawkers who were hawking on the streets. 9 00:00:30,966 --> 00:00:33,768 As a young reporter, I thought that I should do it 10 00:00:33,768 --> 00:00:37,937 in a different way, so that it has a maximum impact, 11 00:00:37,937 --> 00:00:39,825 since everybody knew that it was happening, 12 00:00:39,825 --> 00:00:43,394 and yet there was nothing that was keeping it out of the system. 13 00:00:43,394 --> 00:00:45,629 So I decided to go there 14 00:00:45,629 --> 00:00:49,594 and act as a seller. 15 00:00:49,594 --> 00:00:52,847 As part of selling, I was able to document 16 00:00:52,847 --> 00:00:55,639 the hard core evidence. 17 00:00:55,639 --> 00:00:58,161 The impact was great. 18 00:00:58,161 --> 00:01:00,722 It was fantastic. 19 00:01:00,722 --> 00:01:04,452 This was what many call immersion journalism, 20 00:01:04,452 --> 00:01:07,021 or undercover journalism. 21 00:01:07,021 --> 00:01:11,269 I am an undercover journalist. 22 00:01:11,269 --> 00:01:15,990 My journalism is hinged on three basic principles: 23 00:01:15,990 --> 00:01:20,790 naming, shaming and jailing. 24 00:01:20,790 --> 00:01:22,660 Journalism is about results. 25 00:01:22,660 --> 00:01:26,399 It's about affecting your community or your society 26 00:01:26,399 --> 00:01:29,036 in the most progressive way. 27 00:01:29,036 --> 00:01:33,594 I have worked on this for over 14 years, 28 00:01:33,594 --> 00:01:36,826 and I can tell you, the results are very good. 29 00:01:36,826 --> 00:01:39,057 One story that comes to mind 30 00:01:39,057 --> 00:01:41,201 in my undercover pieces 31 00:01:41,201 --> 00:01:43,412 is "Spirit Child." 32 00:01:43,412 --> 00:01:47,488 It was about children who were born with deformities, 33 00:01:47,488 --> 00:01:50,233 and their parents felt that once they were born 34 00:01:50,233 --> 00:01:51,922 with those deformities, 35 00:01:51,922 --> 00:01:54,045 they were not good enough to live in the society, 36 00:01:54,045 --> 00:01:57,153 so they were given some concoction to take 37 00:01:57,153 --> 00:01:59,730 and as a result they died. 38 00:01:59,730 --> 00:02:02,547 So I built a prosthetic baby, 39 00:02:02,547 --> 00:02:04,697 and I went into the village, 40 00:02:04,697 --> 00:02:08,845 pretended as though this baby had been born 41 00:02:08,845 --> 00:02:12,932 with a deformity, and here was the guys who do the killing. 42 00:02:12,932 --> 00:02:15,507 They got themselves ready. 43 00:02:15,507 --> 00:02:19,093 In their bids to kill, I got the police on standby, 44 00:02:19,093 --> 00:02:21,633 and they came that fateful morning 45 00:02:21,633 --> 00:02:24,469 to come and kill the child. 46 00:02:24,469 --> 00:02:28,488 I recall how they were seriously boiling the concoction. 47 00:02:28,488 --> 00:02:31,408 They put it on fire. It was boiling hot, 48 00:02:31,408 --> 00:02:33,880 getting ready to give to the kids. 49 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:35,855 Whilst this was going on, the police I had alerted, 50 00:02:35,855 --> 00:02:38,528 they were on standby, 51 00:02:38,528 --> 00:02:41,764 and just as the concoction was ready, 52 00:02:41,764 --> 00:02:44,864 and they were about to give it to the kids, 53 00:02:44,864 --> 00:02:46,813 I phoned the police, 54 00:02:46,813 --> 00:02:50,982 and fortunately they came and busted them. 55 00:02:50,982 --> 00:02:53,934 As I speak now, they are before the courts. 56 00:02:53,934 --> 00:02:55,748 Don't forget the key principles: 57 00:02:55,748 --> 00:02:58,574 naming, shaming and jailing. 58 00:02:58,574 --> 00:03:00,587 The court process is taking place, 59 00:03:00,587 --> 00:03:02,670 and I'm very sure at the end of the day 60 00:03:02,670 --> 00:03:05,119 we will find them, and we will put them 61 00:03:05,119 --> 00:03:07,862 where they belong too. 62 00:03:07,862 --> 00:03:10,550 Another key story that comes to mind, 63 00:03:10,550 --> 00:03:14,897 which relates to this spirit child phenomenon, 64 00:03:14,897 --> 00:03:20,373 is "The Spell of the Albinos." 65 00:03:20,373 --> 00:03:23,864 I'm sure most of you may have heard, in Tanzania, 66 00:03:23,864 --> 00:03:26,240 children who are born with albinism 67 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,293 are sometimes considered as being unfit 68 00:03:30,293 --> 00:03:32,992 to live in society. 69 00:03:32,992 --> 00:03:36,880 Their bodies are chopped up with machetes 70 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,208 and are supposed to be used for some concoctions 71 00:03:40,208 --> 00:03:43,090 or some potions for people to get money -- 72 00:03:43,090 --> 00:03:46,885 or so many, many stories people would tell about it. 73 00:03:46,885 --> 00:03:49,441 It was time to go undercover again. 74 00:03:49,441 --> 00:03:52,890 So I went undercover as a man who was interested 75 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:55,023 in this particular business, of course. 76 00:03:55,023 --> 00:03:57,593 Again, a prosthetic arm was built. 77 00:03:57,593 --> 00:04:01,172 For the first time, I filmed on hidden camera 78 00:04:01,172 --> 00:04:05,916 the guys who do this, and they were ready to buy the arm 79 00:04:05,916 --> 00:04:08,066 and they were ready to use it to prepare 80 00:04:08,066 --> 00:04:11,730 those potions for people. 81 00:04:11,730 --> 00:04:15,306 I am glad today the Tanzanian government has taken action, 82 00:04:15,306 --> 00:04:18,448 but the key issue is that the Tanzanian government 83 00:04:18,448 --> 00:04:22,637 could only take action because the evidence was available. 84 00:04:22,637 --> 00:04:26,532 My journalism is about hard core evidence. 85 00:04:26,532 --> 00:04:28,931 If I say you have stolen, I show you the evidence 86 00:04:28,931 --> 00:04:30,434 that you have stolen. 87 00:04:30,434 --> 00:04:32,751 I show you how you stole it 88 00:04:32,751 --> 00:04:34,471 and when, or what you used 89 00:04:34,471 --> 00:04:36,739 what you had stolen to do. 90 00:04:36,739 --> 00:04:41,309 What is the essence of journalism if it doesn't benefit society? 91 00:04:41,309 --> 00:04:43,753 My kind of journalism is a product 92 00:04:43,753 --> 00:04:47,170 of my society. 93 00:04:47,170 --> 00:04:50,348 I know that sometimes 94 00:04:50,348 --> 00:04:54,020 people have their own criticisms 95 00:04:54,020 --> 00:04:57,508 about undercover journalism. 96 00:04:57,508 --> 00:05:01,686 (Video) Official: He brought out some money from his pockets 97 00:05:01,686 --> 00:05:04,640 and put it on the table, 98 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,955 so that we should not be afraid. 99 00:05:07,955 --> 00:05:13,738 He wants to bring the cocoa and send it to Cote d'Ivoire. 100 00:05:13,738 --> 00:05:17,426 So with my hidden intention, I kept quiet. 101 00:05:17,426 --> 00:05:19,816 I didn't utter a word. 102 00:05:19,816 --> 00:05:21,674 But my colleagues didn't know. 103 00:05:21,674 --> 00:05:24,895 So after collecting the money, 104 00:05:24,895 --> 00:05:28,023 when he left, we were waiting for him to bring the goods. 105 00:05:28,023 --> 00:05:31,458 Immediately after he left, I told my colleagues that 106 00:05:31,458 --> 00:05:32,975 since I was the leader of the group, 107 00:05:32,975 --> 00:05:35,972 I told my colleagues that if they come, 108 00:05:35,972 --> 00:05:37,273 we will arrest them. 109 00:05:37,273 --> 00:05:41,500 Second official: I don't even know the place called [unclear]. 110 00:05:41,500 --> 00:05:43,084 I've never stepped there before. 111 00:05:43,084 --> 00:05:44,051 So I'm surprised. 112 00:05:44,051 --> 00:05:49,865 You see a hand counting money just in front of me. 113 00:05:49,865 --> 00:05:53,209 The next moment, you see the money in my hands, 114 00:05:53,209 --> 00:05:56,530 counting, whereas I have not come into contact with anybody. 115 00:05:56,530 --> 00:05:59,095 I have not done any business with anybody. 116 00:05:59,095 --> 00:06:01,435 Reporter: When Metro News contacted investigative reporter 117 00:06:01,435 --> 00:06:03,616 Anas Aremeyaw Anas for his reaction, 118 00:06:03,616 --> 00:06:06,490 he just smiled and gave this video extract 119 00:06:06,490 --> 00:06:11,245 he did not use in the documentary recently shown onscreen. 120 00:06:11,245 --> 00:06:13,594 The officer who earlier denied involvement 121 00:06:13,594 --> 00:06:16,656 pecks a calculator to compute the amount of money 122 00:06:16,656 --> 00:06:21,248 they will charge on the cocoa to be smuggled. 123 00:06:21,248 --> 00:06:23,858 Anas Aremeyaw Anas: This was another story on anticorruption. 124 00:06:23,858 --> 00:06:25,750 And here was him, denying. 125 00:06:25,750 --> 00:06:27,711 But you see, when you have the hard core evidence, 126 00:06:27,711 --> 00:06:31,071 you are able to affect society. 127 00:06:31,071 --> 00:06:33,378 Sometimes these are some of the headlines that come. (Music) 128 00:06:33,378 --> 00:06:35,144 [I will curse Anas to death] 129 00:06:35,144 --> 00:06:37,508 [Anas Lies] 130 00:06:37,508 --> 00:06:40,865 [Alarm Blows Over Anas' News for Cash Video] 131 00:06:40,865 --> 00:06:43,718 [Agenda Against Top CEPS Officials Exposed] 132 00:06:43,718 --> 00:06:46,920 [Anas Operates with Invisible Powers?] 133 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,498 [Gov't Wobbles Over Anas Video] 134 00:06:49,498 --> 00:06:52,306 [Hunting the Hunter] 135 00:06:52,306 --> 00:06:55,041 [Anas 'Bribe' Men in Court] 136 00:06:55,041 --> 00:06:59,165 [15 Heads Roll Over Anas Tape] 137 00:06:59,165 --> 00:07:03,126 [Finance Minister Backs Anas] 138 00:07:03,126 --> 00:07:06,254 [11 Given Queries Over Anas' Story] 139 00:07:06,254 --> 00:07:09,641 [GJA Stands By Anas] 140 00:07:09,641 --> 00:07:13,406 [Prez. Mills Storms Tema Harbour Over Anas Video] 141 00:07:13,406 --> 00:07:17,121 ["Late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills: Former president of Ghana"] 142 00:07:17,121 --> 00:07:19,298 John Evans Atta Mills: What Anas says 143 00:07:19,298 --> 00:07:23,204 is not something which is unknown to many of us, 144 00:07:23,204 --> 00:07:27,308 but please, those of you who are agents, 145 00:07:27,308 --> 00:07:31,891 and who are leading the customs officers into temptation, 146 00:07:31,891 --> 00:07:36,244 I'm telling you, Ghana is not going to say 147 00:07:36,244 --> 00:07:38,843 any good things to you about this. 148 00:07:38,843 --> 00:07:41,186 AAA: That was my president. 149 00:07:41,186 --> 00:07:43,546 I thought that I couldn't come here 150 00:07:43,546 --> 00:07:46,026 without giving you something special. 151 00:07:46,026 --> 00:07:49,517 I have a piece, and I'm excited that 152 00:07:49,517 --> 00:07:53,599 I'm sharing it for the first time with you here. 153 00:07:53,599 --> 00:07:57,705 I have been undercover in the prisons. 154 00:07:57,705 --> 00:08:01,891 I have been there for a long time. 155 00:08:01,891 --> 00:08:06,920 And I can tell you, what I saw is not nice. 156 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,821 But again, I can only affect society 157 00:08:09,821 --> 00:08:13,397 and affect government if I bring out the hard core evidence. 158 00:08:13,397 --> 00:08:16,769 Many times, the prison authorities have denied 159 00:08:16,769 --> 00:08:19,317 ever having issues of drug abuse, 160 00:08:19,317 --> 00:08:23,297 issues of sodomy, so many issues they would deny 161 00:08:23,297 --> 00:08:24,747 that it ever happens. 162 00:08:24,747 --> 00:08:28,111 How can you obtain the hard core evidence? 163 00:08:28,111 --> 00:08:32,011 So I was in the prison. ["Nsawan Prison"] 164 00:08:32,011 --> 00:08:36,197 Now, what you are seeing is a pile of dead bodies. 165 00:08:36,197 --> 00:08:39,267 Now, I happen to have followed one of my inmates, 166 00:08:39,267 --> 00:08:43,823 one of my friends, from his sick bed till death, 167 00:08:43,823 --> 00:08:47,464 and I can tell you it was not a nice thing at all. 168 00:08:47,464 --> 00:08:50,546 There were issues of bad food being served 169 00:08:50,546 --> 00:08:55,456 as I recall that some of the food I ate 170 00:08:55,456 --> 00:08:59,717 is just not good for a human being. 171 00:08:59,717 --> 00:09:03,868 Toilet facilities: very bad. 172 00:09:03,868 --> 00:09:08,261 I mean, you had to queue to get proper toilets to attend -- 173 00:09:08,292 --> 00:09:11,008 and that's what I call proper, 174 00:09:11,008 --> 00:09:14,417 when four of us are on a manhole. 175 00:09:14,417 --> 00:09:18,157 It is something that if you narrate it to somebody, 176 00:09:18,157 --> 00:09:19,991 the person wouldn't believe it. 177 00:09:19,991 --> 00:09:22,197 The only way that you can let the person believe 178 00:09:22,197 --> 00:09:24,309 is when you show hard core evidence. 179 00:09:24,309 --> 00:09:27,437 Of course, drugs were abundant. 180 00:09:27,437 --> 00:09:30,182 It was easier to get cannabis, heroin and cocaine, 181 00:09:30,182 --> 00:09:33,885 faster even, in the prison than outside the prison. 182 00:09:33,885 --> 00:09:38,596 Evil in the society is an extreme disease. 183 00:09:38,596 --> 00:09:40,518 If you have extreme diseases, 184 00:09:40,518 --> 00:09:43,445 you need to get extreme remedies. 185 00:09:43,445 --> 00:09:46,179 My kind of journalism might not fit in other continents 186 00:09:46,179 --> 00:09:47,861 or other countries, 187 00:09:47,861 --> 00:09:51,309 but I can tell you, it works in my part of the continent 188 00:09:51,309 --> 00:09:53,517 of Africa, because usually, when people talk 189 00:09:53,517 --> 00:09:56,242 about corruption, they ask, "Where is the evidence? 190 00:09:56,242 --> 00:09:57,423 Show me the evidence." 191 00:09:57,423 --> 00:09:59,328 I say, "This is the evidence." 192 00:09:59,328 --> 00:10:04,209 And that has aided in me putting a lot of people behind bars. 193 00:10:04,209 --> 00:10:07,729 You see, we on the continent are able 194 00:10:07,729 --> 00:10:10,313 to tell the story better because we face the conditions 195 00:10:10,313 --> 00:10:12,713 and we see the conditions. 196 00:10:12,713 --> 00:10:14,500 That is why I was particularly excited 197 00:10:14,500 --> 00:10:16,880 when we launched our "Africa Investigates" series 198 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,081 where we investigated a lot of African countries. 199 00:10:20,081 --> 00:10:23,732 As a result of the success of the "Africa Investigates" series, 200 00:10:23,732 --> 00:10:26,270 we are moving on to World Investigates. 201 00:10:26,270 --> 00:10:28,913 By the end of it, a lot more bad guys 202 00:10:28,913 --> 00:10:32,543 on our continent will be put behind bars. 203 00:10:32,543 --> 00:10:34,170 This will not stop. 204 00:10:34,170 --> 00:10:37,097 I'm going to carry on with this kind of journalism, 205 00:10:37,097 --> 00:10:40,525 because I know that when evil men destroy, 206 00:10:40,525 --> 00:10:42,513 good men must build and bind. 207 00:10:42,513 --> 00:10:43,786 Thank you very much. 208 00:10:43,786 --> 00:10:52,694 (Applause) 209 00:10:53,323 --> 00:10:55,021 Chris Anderson: Thank you. Thank you. 210 00:10:55,021 --> 00:10:57,269 I have some questions for you. 211 00:10:57,269 --> 00:11:01,499 How did you end up in jail? This was just a few weeks ago, I believe, yeah? 212 00:11:01,499 --> 00:11:03,714 AAA: Sure. You know, undercover is all about 213 00:11:03,714 --> 00:11:06,580 setting the priorities right, so we got people 214 00:11:06,580 --> 00:11:08,418 to take me to court. 215 00:11:08,418 --> 00:11:10,634 So I went through the very legal process, 216 00:11:10,634 --> 00:11:12,858 because at the end of the day, the prison authorities 217 00:11:12,858 --> 00:11:15,474 want to check whether indeed you have been there or not, 218 00:11:15,474 --> 00:11:17,488 and that's how I got in there. 219 00:11:17,488 --> 00:11:19,266 CA: So someone sued you in court, 220 00:11:19,266 --> 00:11:22,073 and they took you there, and you were in remand custody 221 00:11:22,073 --> 00:11:24,514 for part of it, and you did that deliberately. 222 00:11:24,514 --> 00:11:26,205 AAA: Yes, yes. 223 00:11:26,205 --> 00:11:29,368 CA: Talk to me just about fear 224 00:11:29,368 --> 00:11:31,177 and how you manage that, 225 00:11:31,177 --> 00:11:33,810 because you're regularly putting your life at risk. 226 00:11:33,810 --> 00:11:35,373 How do you do that? 227 00:11:35,373 --> 00:11:38,563 AAA: You see, undercover is always a last resort. 228 00:11:38,563 --> 00:11:40,777 Before we go undercover, we follow the rules. 229 00:11:40,777 --> 00:11:43,847 And I'm only comfortable and I'm purged of fear 230 00:11:43,847 --> 00:11:46,327 whenever I am sure that all the steps 231 00:11:46,327 --> 00:11:49,520 have been taken. I don't do it alone. I have a backup team 232 00:11:49,535 --> 00:11:52,900 who help ensure that the safety and all the systems 233 00:11:52,900 --> 00:11:54,845 are put in place, but you've got to take 234 00:11:54,845 --> 00:11:57,596 very intelligent decisions whenever they are happening. 235 00:11:57,596 --> 00:12:00,212 If you don't, you will end up losing your life. 236 00:12:00,212 --> 00:12:02,716 So yes, when the backup systems are put in place, 237 00:12:02,716 --> 00:12:04,804 I'm okay, I go in. Risky, yes, 238 00:12:04,804 --> 00:12:07,460 but it's a hazard of a profession. 239 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:09,013 I mean, everybody has their hazard. 240 00:12:09,013 --> 00:12:10,946 And once you say that is yours, 241 00:12:10,946 --> 00:12:13,254 you've got to take it, as and when it comes. 242 00:12:13,254 --> 00:12:15,945 CA: Well, you're an amazing human and you've done amazing work 243 00:12:15,945 --> 00:12:17,215 and you've taught us a story 244 00:12:17,215 --> 00:12:20,462 like no story I think any of us have heard before. 245 00:12:20,462 --> 00:12:24,306 And we're appreciative. We salute you. Thank you so much, Anas. 246 00:12:24,306 --> 00:12:25,430 AAA: Thank you. 247 00:12:25,430 --> 00:12:29,702 CA: Thank you. Stay safe. (Applause)