It has emerged that senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Marfo lied when he publicly claimed that Galamsey Queen, Aisha Huang was deported to China when she was first arrested for actively involving herself in illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’.
The senior Minister at a town hall meeting in the United States of America (USA) claimed that the lady had been deported.
“Putting that lady (Aisha Huang) in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems. It is not going to make you happy or me happy, that’s not important, the most important thing is that she has been deported out of Ghana,” added that.
The President, Nana Akufo-Addo, also claimed the government’s decision to deport the Chinese national after her reported involvement in illegal mining was a mistake.
“I think the decision to deport Aisha Huang in hindsight was a mistake and that is why that process and procedure is being stopped,” he said at a forum at Princeton University during his visit to the United States of America.
Aisha Huang gained some notoriety after her arrest in May 2017 and was tagged as the Galamsey Queen.
She had been charged with three counts of undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703); providing mining support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), and the illegal employment of foreign nationals, contrary to the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
During the prosecution, the government controversially discontinued the case and deported her in December 2018.
A foreigner engaged in illegal mining now faces a term of imprisonment of not less than 20 years and not more than 25 years per the amended Minerals and Mining Act.
The claim that she had been deported, a small scale miner has said is false as according to him, the lady was still in the country and was actively involved in galamsey.
“She has infiltrated and influenced the ranks of our politicians so it will be false for anyone to claim that she was deported…she is here and has been operating…,” Robert Owusu claimed on Accra-based Okay FM monitored by Angelonline.com.gh.
He further narrated how Aisha Huang became very powerful in Ghana in the video published below:
