A member of the Upper East Regional Communication Team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Paul Danka has said Manasseh Azure Awuni’s kind of journalism cannot be passed as investigative journalism.
Speaking on Dreamz FM’s The State of Our Nation, Mr. Paul Danka asserted that the investigative journalist does not apply the required methodologies in investigative reporting and thus, reports conducted by him do not meet the standards of investigative journalism and cannot be said to be investigative reports.
While acknowledging Manasseh Azure’s ingenuity in his line of duty, the NDC’s communicator emphasized that the journalist has never conducted any report which can be considered as an investigative report.
He said although he does not intend teaching Manasseh on how to do his job, he should consider amending his style of investigation and use the appropriate methodologies moving forward.
“I have always said that Manasseh has never investigated anything. When you say investigative journalism (it is not about meeting people and asking questions). No wonder we have people roaming around here, we all know them everywhere and they are calling themselves investigative journalists. You could have done what Manasseh did. You get your lead, you go to the various people who are involved and you ask the questions and you come and put it out there. It is a normal story we all know.
When I used to say this especially on the Gabriel Eddi saga and the Forde saga, these were the same parameters I used. I remembered saying that there was nothing investigative about it. What did he do to Gabriel Iddi? He only had a lead, used the lead and formulated his questionnaires and asked Gabriel Iddi,” he stated.
He added “I am not teaching Manasseh what methodology to use but we all know that there are templates for this job because we’ve all been in it and we know how it is done”.
John Paul Danka said this while reacting to Manasseh’s latest investigative report alleging acts of corruption on the part of officials of the Bongo District Assembly.
The Bongo District Assembly, according to ‘The Bongo Scandal’ documentary, awarded two contracts to itself and Madam Diana Aburiya using one Asumbekere Karim Anagbila’s company in breach of the procurement laws. The CEO of Aporgan K-A Enterprise claimed his permission was not sought before the usage of his company by the assembly management to bid for the contract. He told the investigative journalist that he only became aware of the development after the assembly withdrew money from his account with the Maltaaba Bank without his permission.
He protested against the usage of his company by the assembly for the contract and the withdrawal of the money from his account. But the assembly prevailed upon him to cooperate with them for the execution of the project and he agreed and even went ahead to sign a blank cheque for future withdrawals of funds but on condition that the assembly would show him proof of the work executed before any withdrawal will be made.
But the assembly, he claimed, failed to meet the agreed condition and had intended to withdraw a second chunk of the money paid into his account. Mr. Karim, who got wind of the assembly’s move, is said to have instructed the bank not to allow the second withdrawal. The bank, however, defied his instructions and went ahead to allow the withdrawal of over GH¢156,000.
But Paul Danka, who criticized the journalist for failing to dig deeper into the matter, stated that ‘The Bongo Scandal’ report like many other reports conducted by the journalist is not an investigative piece.
“The same thing in happened in the Forde saga. You only went and had your lead, you quizzed the contractor and you come back and hide the facts and then called Batidan and asked him questions and when he finished then you told him that this is what is happening, so what was his thoughts. So what happened in Bongo is not investigation. You had your lead and you only came in and you asked them before your cameras and your mics what transpired and they spoke”.
