Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has rebuffed attacks by the Department of Social Welfare over his undercover work exposing abuses at the Osu Children Home, saying the department is in a state of confusion. Anas released a video last month exposing abuses inmates of the Home suffer. But authorities at the department responsible for the Home, including the Minister for Social Welfare E.T. Mensah, have questioned the investigative reporter’s motives, attacking his integrity and accusing him of denting the image of the Home and the country at large. The Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department, Daniel Opare Adjei, for instance, told Joy News that some portions of Anas’ video were dramatised and that he lured the children with gifts and monies to act. This did not go down well with Anas who blasted the Department for trying to defend the indefensible instead of addressing the issues contained in the video. “I think his comments are pathetic… how can I skew the hands of a mother beating a child? How can I do that? How can I skew the hands of the women to take the food belonging to the babies home? How could I have done that? How about the death of the babies? That one too I skewed it?” he queried. In a banter with Anas on Joy FM on Friday, Mr Adjei said wrong impressions were portrayed by the footage were misleading. He cited a guest house in the Home that according to Anas is being used as a brothel. He flatly denied that, saying that the facility was a gift from the world Vision International that is being used as a guest house to generate income for the running of the Home. “The guest house is not meant for prostitution” as being portrayed by Anas, he said. He however noted that his outfit is taking steps to correct some of the wrongs in the orphanage but asked Anas to be a little more professional in his news presentation. “We appreciate the efforts that he has put into this investigation; we accept some of the [things in the] video that we saw. For example the beatings, it is not our policy that the children should be beaten, we have taken action in that respect. “What we are saying is that, he should be candid in the way he presents the whole issue. ...if you tell me that within seven months he was able to plant 45 cameras in the home and the 45 cameras could not take anything good but all abuses; I think that it is a professional dishonesty on his part.” But Mr Adjei’s attack on Anas’ professionalism drew a sharp response. “This man [Adjei] is in a state of confusion as to how we operate or how we do journalism,” he shot back. “One day I went to Macumba Nite Club (near the Danquah Circle in Accra), brought a prostitute, I went in myself, nobody checked me, let him point out what sort of checks are done to people using that facility. The children get up early in the morning, they see prostitutes wearing skimpy dresses passing in front of them, it is a very normal occurrence.” A Committee has been set up to investigate among other things, the cases of child neglect and abuses, and allegations of theft of donated items to the home and allegations of sodomy. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana