The General Secretary of Convention Peoples Party (CPP), Nana Yaa Jantuah, has called for the immediate resignation of the past Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, as the board chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
She explained that Blay had to resign because his law firm is representing the accomplices of the alleged illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, who the government, which he is part of, is prosecuting.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, Jantuah berated Freddie Blay for defending Aisha Huang’s accomplices.
He reiterated that the action of the former NPP chairman is ethically wrong and amounts to a clear case of conflict of interest.
“This is a man who is part of the governance of an organization in the NPP government and his law firm is defending galamsey. What do they seek to achieve? Are they just playing?
“I thought he had even left GNPC, but he is still there. Being the board chair is not of GNPC, it means you are part of the government. It is the people who are in government who become board chairmen because it is assumed and believed that they believe in the agenda of the government in power. That is why they put them there, to direct governance as board chairman.
“You are in government and your firm is defending a government that the president of this country has put his job on the line to stop. I think he should resign as board chair of GNPC. I don’t know why he is still there because it is a conflict of interest. You can eat your cake and have it,” she said.
She indicated that she is very disheartened that a member of the government is supporting something that is killing Ghanaians and destroying the country’s lands and water bodies.
Freddie Blay, who is the immediate past chairman of the NPP, has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that he is the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, in court on Tuesday (October 11), said that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
The Chinese national who was detained in August 2022 has since been charged with a crime and is now being tried in court.
She and three other Chinese nationals were charged on September 2 before an Accra Circuit Court.
After Aisha Huang was detained again, the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, revisited the state’s 2018 decision to close her case.
As a result, Aisha Huang is currently standing trial in two different courts; the fresh case against her at Circuit Court 9 since her rearrest in August and her old case from 2018 which was discontinued after the state filed a nolle prosequi is being heard at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court.
The Accra Circuit Court 9 has once again remanded alleged illegal mining kingpin, Aisha Huang, and three other persons facing trial with her into custody.
During court proceedings on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, Inspector Isaac Babaye, who stood in for the prosecution officer, asked the court for a time.
According to the prosecution, the state has constituted a panel of experts to look into the matter, while an advice from the Attorney General’s Office is awaited.
Following the prosecution’s request for time, lawyers for the accused persons prayed to the court for their clients to be granted bail.
According to the defence lawyers, their clients do not pose a flight risk and will not interfere in the state’s investigations if granted bail.
In the case of the second accused person, Franklin Kumatoh argued that his client was only a victim of circumstance.
According to him, she only paid a visit to the house of Aisha Huang and was arrested together with the others during a swoop by state security officials.
The lawyer noted that his client is gainfully employed in Ghana and is ready to meet conditions for bail if the court were to grant her bail.
Mr. Kumatoh added, “Since the prosecution does not know the time to conclude the investigation and is now seeking expert advice, we believe it will be fair in the interest of justice if the second accused person is admitted to bail.”
The prosecution, in their opposition to the application for bail, noted that it had demonstrated in previous sittings of the court that the accused persons are a flight risk.
“What we have now is that most of the accused persons have multiple passports with different names on them. Therefore, if they are granted bail, they will not appear to stand trial and defeat the purpose of bail,” Inspector Babaye told the court.
The defence counsel, however, rebutted the claim, noting that the claim by the prosecution is embellished with speculation to prejudice the mind of the court.
The court, presided by Bright Acquah, after listening to both arguments, maintained its previous decision to deny the accused persons bail.
Aisha Huang, aka Huang Ruixia, and the three other accused persons: John Li Hua, Huang Jei, and Huaid Hai Hun, are being held for engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid license.
Aisha, 47, is facing an additional charge of engaging in mining without a licence.
All the accused persons have denied the charges pressed against them.
A former national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says his law firm is ready to defend the four accomplices of Aisha Huang because they are innocent.
He said they have no reason to believe or act otherwise, adding that the four Chinese nationals deserve full legal representation in court.
“They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.
“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday.
According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.
That, in any way, does not suggest they are illegal miners and should not have fair legal representation or defence, Mr Blay stressed.
“Our firm is defending these clients; they’ve told us their story. Maybe the prosecution has been told some other story and that is why we are before the court to defend them,” he added.
“We are a firm of lawyers, we take our instructions from our clients based on the story they’ve told us which we have no reason to believe otherwise.”
He clapped back at critics who say his decision to defend the accused persons defeats government’s fight against ‘galamsey’.
“I don’t know whether you are saying that at a time like this when people are accused or arraigned before court, they should not be entitled to any defence,” he retorted.
NPP justification
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has justified the decision by its former national chairman, Freddie Blay, to defend four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Hunag in court.
According to the Communications Director, Richard Ahiagbah, people’s political affiliations should not deny anyone the right to justice and fair representation in court.
“I don’t think there would be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliation with the New Patriotic Party.
The idea is that every client deserves a representation; our laws allow for that so the clients have exercised their right to have a legal representation,” he told JoyNews in an interview.
What happened?
A feeling of surprise erupted in the Criminal Court 5 on Tuesday when it was announced that former NPP National Chairman Freddie Blay will be representing four accomplices of Aisha Huang who are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang namely; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
This move by Mr Blay has sparked discussions among the public as many say it suggests a lack of principles and defeats government’s fight against the canker.
“Those [lawyers] happen to be people affiliated with the NPP; I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court… I think that we should pay attention and see that the due process is occasioned and the outcome is fair to our country,” Richard Ahiagbah noted.
The High Court, on Tuesday, denied two applications for bail by lawyers for the Chinese illegal mining kingpin.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame, and the Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, were in court to lead government’s efforts in prosecuting Aisha Huang and others being held for illegal mining.
He stated that the state would file an additional set of eight witness statements in place of the four witness statements he had originally filed.
The Attorney General then requested that the court be adjourned so that his office could file the required documents.
In response to the Attorney General’s request, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo postponed the hearing until October 24, 2022.
Aisha Huangis facing trial over four charges preferred against her by the state.
Charges
The first count is “undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995”.
Second count: Facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Third count: Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Fourth count: Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
The immediate past national chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freddie Blay, has expressed shock at the backlash he and his firm has received because of their decision to defend some foreign nationals standing trial for alleged illegal mining offences.
Law firm Blay and Associates is the law firm defending the four accomplices of En Huang, popularly known as Aisha Huang, who has been charged with the others for engaging in illegal mining activities in Ghana.
The decision of Mr Blay’s firm to defend these foreign nationals, when his party and government is battling an ongoing galamsey menace has raised eyebrows but the astute lawyer in a radio interview said every accused person is entitled to legal representation.
Mr Blay who is a stalwart of the NPP due to his immediate past position says it is rather unfortunate that he has been subjected to attacks.
Speaking to Joy FM on Wednesday, October 12, Mr Blay said, “My clients are not guilty; we’ve sworn an oath to defend them.
They came to instruct us and we as professionals, we have sworn an oath to defend our clients to the best of our knowledge and ability and that is exactly what we are doing in accordance with the Constitution of this country.
“They are not guilty. They’ve been brought before the court, they’ve pleaded not guilty and are being defended,” Mr Blay said as quoted by Graphiconline.
According to him, the four accused persons may have a relationship with Aisha Huang because in 2017 they bought a supermarket from her.
Meanwhile, the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame has assured Ghanaians that his outfit will not relent in its effort to prosecute all illegal miners in the country, adding that, for Aisha Huang, who has gained notoriety for the galamsey trade she will pay for both her past and present offences.
Godfred Dame was speaking to the press after the now-famous galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was denied bail on Tuesday, October 11.
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents we will rely on. We have filed witness statements with four witnesses, we need about four more. But the Judge in her discretion decided to adjourn to 24th October for us to come and conduct the case management conference and we are ready to conduct the trial on a day by day basis and the Judge has also indicated the inclination to conduct the trial in that manner. So we are happy with the progress of the matter. And it is important to indicate to the world our full commitment to prosecute all these illegal mining offences. It is something that is of utmost importance to the nation.”
Aisha Huang, a Chinese national, previously deported/repatriated for dealing in illegal mining in 2018 was re-arrested this year.
She is currently standing trial with three other Chinese nationals for mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
All three were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case.
Chinese National En Huang, popularly known in Ghana as Aisha Huang who is standing trial for engaging in galamsey, and her four accomplices will continue to be in custody after the trial judge, Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo, refused a bail application made by the lawyers for the accused.
Aisha Huang, Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case on November 24, 2022.
In court on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, when Aisha Huang’s lawyer who is also a one-time Presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, rose to move an application for bail, the trial judge quickly stopped him and indicated that she will still refuse the application for bail.
“My mind has not changed; you can make the application and I’ll still refuse you,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo told Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Also, the judge refused a similar application made on behalf of the four others who are now being represented by a former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
“These people are foreigners, we do not have sufficient financial or social ties within the jurisdiction of this court and as we know, in this country people usually do not need any passport to exit if they are minded to leave and considering the severity of the punishment the accused persons will suffer if found guilty. I have a sufficient belief that when granted bail, they will not appear before the court to stand trial,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo stressed.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose off the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
The Attorney GeneralGodfred Dame has told an Accra High Court that the state has evidence to prove that some four foreigners charged as accomplices of galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang were indeed engaged in illegal mining activities.
The Attorney General, during proceedings on October 11, 2022, told the court that the evidence gathered by the state against the suspects include five receipts issued to the foreign nationals as proof of purchase of small-scale mining sites.
According to the Attorney General, the suspects were engaged in criminality as the laws of Ghana bar foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining.
The four suspects are made up of three Chinese nationals; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi, as well as a Vietnamese national, identified as Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen.
They are all facing a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
However, the Vietnamese national is facing a separate charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have all pleaded not guilty to their charge while the court was compelled to defer the plea of the fourth suspect due to the absence of an interpreter.
Responding to the prosecution’s evidence against the suspects, their lawyer, Lucie Ekelebe Blay who was holding brief for Freddie Blay challenged the substance of the receipt.
According to the lawyer for the accused persons, the supposed purchase of mining sites by her clients did not materialise as they were duped in the process.
Her argument nonetheless was deemed as enough grounds to prove the prosecution’s case according to the Attorney General.
In his response to the defence lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame maintained that the suspects breached the law by their attempt to own a mining concession as the law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small scale mining.
The court, citing various factors such as the nature of the alleged offence committed by the suspects, their flight risk possibility and the severity of punishment if they are found guilty, denied the four bail till the end of their trial.
The case against the four has been adjourned to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
The state’s case against alleged galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was called after that of her alleged accomplices was adjourned.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has observed a close relationship between illegal small-scale mining kingpin, Aisha Huang and lawyers belonging to the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP.
Ablakwa, while commenting on the recent disclosure that four accomplices standing trial with Ms. Huang in a case before the Accra Circuit Court, were represented by immediate past NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay; said he wasn’t in the least surprised.
He revealed that as far back as 2017, when Huang got entangled in legal issues, her first two lawyers were affiliated with the NPP but the government pushed for a change in lawyers for Huang.
“After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh,” Ablakwa said in a post dated October 12.
The former he noted went on to become the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for Akwatia in the 2020 General Elections.
Aisha Huang’scurrent lawyer is a former Berekum MP, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, who has been her representative since 2018.
It emerged only yesterday that Freddie Blay was the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose of the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, on Tuesday, told an Accra High Court that, the state has evidence to prove that some four foreigners charged as accomplices of galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang were indeed engaged in illegal mining activities.
The Attorney General, during proceedings on October 11, 2022, told the court that the evidence gathered by the state against the suspects include five receipts issued to the foreign nationals as proof of purchase of small-scale mining sites.
According to the Attorney General, the suspects were engaged in criminality as the laws of Ghana bar foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining.
The four suspects are made up of three Chinese nationals; Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi, as well as a Vietnamese national, identified as Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen.
They are all facing a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
However, the Vietnamese national is facing a separate charge for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
The three Chinese nationals have all pleaded not guilty to their charge while the court was compelled to defer the plea of the fourth suspect due to the absence of an interpreter.
Responding to the prosecution’s evidence against the suspects, their lawyer, Lucie Ekelebe Blay who was holding brief for Freddie Blay challenged the substance of the receipt.
According to the lawyer for the accused persons, the supposed purchase of mining sites by her clients did not materialise as they were duped in the process.
Her argument nonetheless was deemed as enough grounds to prove the prosecution’s case according to the Attorney General.
In his response to the defence lawyer, Godfred Yeboah Dame maintained that the suspects breached the law by their attempt to own a mining concession as the law prohibits foreigners from engaging in small scale mining.
The court, citing various factors such as the nature of the alleged offence committed by the suspects, their flight risk possibility and the severity of punishment if they are found guilty, denied the four bail till the end of their trial.
The case against the four has been adjourned to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Aisha Huang
The state’s case against alleged galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang was called after that of her alleged accomplices was adjourned.
Presiding Judge Lydia Osei Marfo, during a sitting on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, after the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including his client’s flight risk, remain and will not be changed.
She added that his constant presence in court with his client would be the only way to ensure the case is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor Godfred Dame, on his part, reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges, including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022, for case management.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is of the view that justice will be served in the matter involving the state versus Aisha Huang and four others in a case involving illegal small-scale mining activities.
This according to the party is despite the fact that lawyers affiliated with it are representing the accused persons.
Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM, the party’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah maintained that the court will at all times deal with evidence put before it by parties to the case.
He contended further that it was within the right of an accused person to get legal representation in court and consequently it was also right for the NPP-affiliated lawyers to render professional services to such persons.
“If it is a matter of conscience then we should say that there shouldn’t be legal representation for criminals or for somebody who has killed somebody or is alleged to have killed somebody. As conscience will dictate, we should all abhor such behavior and therefore no lawyer as matter of conscience should want to defend any such act
“I don’t think there will be any miscarriage of justice because the lawyers in the case are NPP related or have affiliations with the New Patriotic Party. The idea is that every client deserves a representation.
“Our laws allows for that, so the client have exercised their right to have legal representation and those happens to be people affiliated with the NPP. I don’t think that necessarily changes the rules of the court which is evidence,” Ahiagbah said.
It emerged that former NPP Chairman, Freddie Blay, is the main lawyer for Aisha Huang’s accomplices namely Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng, in the prosecution.
Aisha Huang together with her four other accomplices made a court appearance yesterday October 11 for the state to continue with their prosecution.
Private attorney Lucy Ekeleba Blay said in court that she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices. Another NPP affiliated lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Darteh is representing Aisha Huang.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Godfred Dame has indicated his readiness to fast-track the prosecution of Aisha Huang for her past and previous crimes.
Ms. Huang and her accomplices have been remanded into custody until November 24, 2022 following the judge’s refusal to grant them bail.
The four accomplices; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng together with the ‘galamsey’ queen, Aisha Huang are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday, Mr. Adib Sani stated that Mr. Blay’s acceptance to defend the accomplices is only “indicative of his lack of principles.”
His assertion is in connection with an announcement that former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay, will be representing four accomplices of ‘galamsey’ queen Aisha Huang.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, announced in court on Tuesday that she was holding brief for Freddy Blay in the case of the four accomplices of Aisha Huang.
Mr. Adib Sani said although, Mr. Blay is not doing anything wrong legally, he believes it is a wrong move strategically.
According to him, the offer should have been turned down by the lawyer in as much as “man must feed.”
“As a businessman, there are sometimes some jobs that will come, even though you are looking for the money, as a matter of principle, you turn it down considering the controversial nature of the issue, the attention it has garnered locally and internationally, the pain it has caused Ghanaians, particularly those in the mining communities,” he insisted.
Mr. Sani noted that this development may add to the public’s perception that there are powerful forces in the country behind ‘galamsey.’
Meanwhile, Aisha Huang herself is being represented by NPP stalwart, Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Aisha Huang, the galamsey kingpin, and her four accomplices will continue to be in custody after the trial judge, Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo, refused a bail application made by the lawyers for the accused.
Aisha Huang, Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng were remanded into the custody of the National Investigation Bureau pending the final determination of their case on November 24, 2022.
In court on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, when Aisha Huang’s lawyer who is also a one-time Presidential candidate for the governing NPP, Captain Nkrabea Effah Dartey, rose to move an application for bail, the trial judge quickly stopped him and indicated that she will still refuse the application for bail.
“My mind has not changed; you can make the application and I’ll still refuse you,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo told Nkrabea Effah Dartey.
Also, the judge refused a similar application made on behalf of the four others who are now being represented by a former NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
“These people are foreigners, we do not have sufficient financial or social ties within the jurisdiction of this court and as we know, in this country people usually do not need any passport to exit if they are minded to leave and considering the severity of the punishment the accused persons will suffer if found guilty. I have a sufficient belief that when granted bail, they will not appear before the court to stand trial,” Her Ladyship Lydia Osei Marfo stressed.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose off the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has said the Akufo-Addo administration is determined to make all persons who are caught engaging in illegal small scale mining (Galamsey), to face the full rigours of the law.
He indicated that the Chinese national, Aisha Huang popularly known as Galamsey Queen, who was arrested for allegedly re-entering Ghana without permission after her deportation, and the others with her will all face the law for their actions.
Aisha Huang was denied bail yet again on Tuesday October 11.
She was denied bail by an Accra High Court, where she is facing four charges pressed by the Attorney General.
Speaking to journalists after the case, Mr Jinapor said “One of the key pillars on which we are seeking to deal with this issue of illegal small scale mining is law enforcement and prosecution, particularly as it relates to foreigners.
“As you can see, the Attorney-General himself was in court and he himself is conducting this trial, prosecuting the cases in a very spirited and enthusiastic manner.
“I think it helps my work, when you have an Attorney-General who is diligent and serious about prosecution and ensuring that all perpetrators are brought to book, I think it is a big boost and I am very thankful to him for the work he is doing.
“We will continue with our efforts on all fronts – law enforcements, reforms as well as the prosecutorial part, which we are fully committed .
“As you can tell, this Aisha Huang lady, the government of President Akufo-Addo is committed to bring her and other persons who are involved in illegal mining to face the full rigors of the the laws.”
Presiding Judge, Lydia Osei Marfo during sitting on Friday, October 11, 2022, refused the plea of her lawyer, Nkrabea Effah Darteyafter the latter argued that his client deserved bail.
According to the judge, all arguments previously made against his plea for bail, including the flight risk of his client remain and will not be changed.
She added that, his constant presence in court with his client will be the only way to ensure the hearing is heard accordingly for the determination of his client’s fate.
State Prosecutor, Godfred Dame on his part reiterated government’s commitment to ensuring the case is duly heard and that the accused are prosecuted if found guilty.
Aisha Huang is in court over charges of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals, four other charges including undertaking a mining operation without a license.
She is also facing four other charges including undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022.
Her case has since been adjourned to October 24, 2022 for case management.
Four others remanded:
Meanwhile, four others, who appeared in court, 3 Chinese nationals and a Vietnam national, have all been remanded to reappear in court on November 1, 2022.
The 3 Chinese nationals – Shi Yang alias Philip, Li Wei Guo and Shi Mei Zhi are on a provisional charge of engaging in small scale-mining without a licence, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
Vietnam national; Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen, is however being charged for remaining in Ghana after the expiration of a permit contrary to sections 20(1) and 52(1)(d) of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Hearing their cases separately, the sitting judge heard the pleas of the 3 Chinese nationals but reserved that of the Vietnamese; Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen who had difficulty understanding the Chinese and English languages through which she was communicated.
Court denies accused persons bail:
On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, the accused persons were denied bail for the second time.
The sitting judge, Samuel Bright Acquah, argued that the case was one of public concern considering the depth of damage being done to the environment through galamsey activities.
Citing threats by Ghana Water Company to shut down if nothing is done about galamsey activities, and the impact of same on marine species in affected waterbodies among others, the judge refused the accused persons bail.
The accused persons were prior to this, denied bail on September 14, 2022, after lead counsel Nkrabea-Effah Dartey asked the court to grant his client and her three other Chinese counterparts bail.
Aisha Huang’s request according to GhanaWeb’s court reporter was objected to by the prosecution.
According to the prosecution, new arrests have been made therefore granting the accused persons bail may give them the opportunity to interfere with witnesses and investigations.
The prosecution while citing public interest in the matter also argued that Aisha Huang has a history of sneaking in and out of the country and is therefore a flight risk.
Founder of the United Peoples Party (UPP), Akwasi Addae Odike, has hinted that he will be petitioning Ghana’s international partners over illegal small-scale mining activities, popularly known as galamsey.
He listed three institutions that the UPP will be petitioning to put pressure on the government to take more decisive steps in combatting the ever-growing scourge of galamsey.
In an interview on Joy News channel, October 10, 2022; Odike stressed that from where he sat, the government was still not taking the galamsey fight seriously hence the need to employ external pressures.
“We want to send a petition to United Nations, European Union and International Monetary Fund, IMF, we want this to be part of the conditions, the strings attached to the bailout. I am imploring the IMF to bring galamsey issues as part of the conditionalities to secure this bailout.
“This will push the government harder, to take decisive decisions to mitigate this menace. United Nations Security Council too must come in, because now the effect of illegal mining is creating a health hazard,” he submitted.
He also cited the issue of security submitting that people into galamsey “are possessing a lot of guns, apart from that, HIV/AIDS is on the ascendency at these mining areas,” he alleged insisting that he had evidence to back the claims.
He is also worried about the fact that galamsey was gradually posing a health threat, especially to tubers that are grown in affected areas.
“It is contaminating our food, the tubers. You are sitting in Accra here and unbeknownst to you, you buy a yam which has been contaminated with cyanide and you will have a kidney or some infection,” he added.
Galamsey has become topical in recent months with the resurgence of news on its continued negative impact on the environment.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at a recent meeting with the National House of Chiefs and selected Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, MMDCEs, restated his resolve to root out the canker.
The issue has also been given impetus following the rearrest last month of a notorious galamsey kingpin in the person of Aisha Huang.
The Chinese national who had as of 2018 been repatriated from Ghana after the state discontinued a criminal trial against her for galamsey, reentered the country on the blind side of the authorities.
Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has indicated that the return of galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang has proven that Ghana has failed in dealing with the illegal small-scale mining menace.
Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, he stated that when Aisha Huang was arrested, it emerged that she was married to a Ghanaian, therefore she was entitled to some benefits.
Baako further noted that Huang was subsequently asked by the authorities to go and regularize her galamsey activities because she was operating without the requisite license.
“Aisha Huang symbolizes Ghana’s failure to tackle the phenomenon of galamsey effectively and courageously, then and now. This woman, I have already stated that prior to 2017, she was arrested and released three times. There are people who are challenging me on this but very soon they will get the evidence.
“I have in my hands a copy of the minutes of the Ashanti Regional and District Security Councils (REGSEC) meeting dated September 6, 2016. In the minutes, she was arrested and at the meeting, Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) Officer who attended the meeting said this about Aisha Huang – ’13 Chinese immigrants caught engaging in illegal mining were processed to be sent out of Ghana but need to cover their dugout pits first. Two out of the 13 were on the run and their guarantors were to be held responsible. We informed members that one Chinese lady called Miss Aisha, who was famously known in galamsey operations in Ghana, came to his office and after interrogation, it came out that she was married to a Ghanaian, hence entitled to some benefits. However, she does not have an operating license and was asked to go and have one,” Kweku Baako said.
It appears that Ghana is losing the fight against galamsey as the various water bodies in the country have been polluted with the colour of the water turning milky brown.
President Akufo-Addo at a meeting with chiefs in the Ashanti region on Wednesday, October 5, vowed to deal with persons within his government who may be found complicit in illegal mining activities.
The President said the government has for several years been struggling with the fight against ‘galamsey’, hence government officials cannot continue to compromise efforts against the menace.
“I am not here to threaten anybody, but I want you to know that this is a struggle that I take very seriously and I will not be in a position to protect anybody against whose evidence is messed up about their complicity in this matter…I am a lawyer and I always deal with facts and when the facts are brought against you, you will be invited to comment on them.
“If the response is not satisfactory, you can guess to yourself what the consequences will be,” the President said.
He also admitted that Ghana’s fight against illegal mining has so far not been successful.
“Since I took office on 7th January 2017, nearly 6 years ago, I have made it the central feature of my presidency to lead in the efforts to rid our country of this menace which we all now call ‘galamsey’.
“Indeed, it was an important aspect of my inaugural address of that day. It has not been easy, it has not been popular, but we have not got the immediate result that I was looking for,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Founder of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Akwasi Addai Odike, has labelled the menace of illegal mining activity popularly known as galamsey as an ‘environmental terrorism’ which is far worse than the coup d’état in neighbouring Burkina Faso.
In an interview on Accra based Okay on October 3, he lamented that generations yet unborn will bear the brunt of the havoc galamsey activities are causing.
He accused the Asian powerhouse, China, of being responsible for the destruction because it wants to economically colonize the country.
He described China as ‘satanic people’ who were bent on crippling economies by taking over a country’s main source of revenue or completely destroying it.
In the case of Ghana, he said China was destroying the country’s cocoa bean as a result of the Asian country’s venture into the same space.
“Our cocoa which used to be of high quality and the backbone of the economy is now being rejected by foreign countries as a result of cyanide in the bean. China has committed to colonizing Africa. When they come into your country, it is either they take over what generates wealth for the country or they destroy it.
“China is destroying the cocoa industry because it is now cultivating some. They were the ones who informed the international community that Ghana’s cocoa contains cyanide meanwhile they brought it. If you look at their conduct and that of Aisha Huang, it is clear they want to bring the country’s economy to its knees in order to take over economically and be dependent on them.
“Chinese are the most satanic and evil people. If I become president, I won’t tolerate them except those who are bringing serious and viable business into the country,” an unhappy Odike said.
He added that “if you look at the number of Chinese nationals who have been arrested and shown on TV, it is only a minimum of three who are languishing in prison”.
Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah recently warned that Ghana cocoa and coffee could be banned from the EU under new rules.
He said however that measures are being put in place to avert the ban on Ghana’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
“In Europe, there is a new legislation that could soon make Ghanaian cocoa and coffee unexportable to many international markets.
“The Ghana Embassy in Belgium under the leadership of Ambassador Sena Boateng has moved swiftly to bring this to the attention of the Government of Ghana. It has also commenced work on realigning Ghanaian and European interests in cocoa and coffee,” parts of the post shared on Facebook read.
Background
The conversation on galamsey resurfaced following the rearrest of Chinese galamsey kingpin Aisha Huangand her accomplices.
She has been remanded into police custody as she faces her prosecution. Again, many civil society organizations have expressed concerns over the heavy pollution of water bodies which has compelled the Ghana Water Company Limited to threaten to shut down mining communities.
Pressure group, Occupy Ghana, has urged President Akufo-Addo to declare a state of emergency in mining areas as the country wage war on illegal activity.
The President, it will be recalled placed his presidency on the line in the galamsey 2017 however many hold the view that the fight has not been a success as a result of the discoloured nature of water bodies and some top officials found complicit in the fight.
Nana Akufo-Addo opines that he paid a political price for his fight as he lost votes and in some cases, NPP MPs were unseated in mining areas.
According to him, he is convinced that the ‘galamsey’ kingpin, who was recently remanded to police custody, is not been detained by the police because he does not trust the nation’s security apparatus, 3news.com reports.
“I can tell you on authority, Aisha Huang doesn’t sleep in Police cells,” he is quoted to have said on the New Day show on TV3 Thursday, September 29.
“Even the president is saying that he is not sure that she was deported. So you trust our security apparatus? No,” he noted.
The Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, presided by Samuel Bright Acquah on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, for the second time denied Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals bail.
Aisha Huang is now facing a total of six charges relating to illegal mining activities and other immigration offences.
Until, September 16, Aisha was facing two charges along with three other accomplices, in an Accra Circuit Court, after they were arrested earlier this month for allegedly mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Dame, filed four new charges at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court during a virtual hearing that took place in the court of Justice Lydia Marfo.
The charges are undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
The Lawyer for Chinese illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, has berated the Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, Samuel Bright Acquah, for his decision not to grant his client bail.
Speaking in a TV3 interview monitored by GhanaWeb, on Tuesday, the lawyer said that he was disappointed by the decision made by the judge because the judge is someone, he knows to be fair-minded.
According to Effah Dartey, the Acquah was prejudicial with some of the comments he made about the effects of illegal mining before denying Aisha Huang and the three other Chinese nationals bail.
“I was in large measure disappointed today. I was disappointed because I know the judge, he is very fair all the time. In all cases that I have appeared before him, I have not had cause to complain about his decision.
“But today, I was not happy. I was not happy because a case has been called and the issue before you was bail application… With the greatest respect, all that My Lord needed to do was to write his ruling and deliver it.
“But My Lord went extempore, talking about river bodies, about Ghana Water being under pressure to supply water. My Lord was talking about fishes in the rivers. And with the greatest respect what has this got to do with the issue of whether or not the accused persons are entitled to bail,” he said.
“My view was that my lord was betraying his view on the whole case and he is in danger of opening himself up for criticism that he has prejudged the issue,” he added.
Lawyer Effah Dartey reiterated that until the accused persons are found guilty, they remain innocent.
The Accra Circuit Court 9 judge, Samuel Bright Acquah on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, while refusing bail application for Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals who have been accused of engaging in illegal mining and the sale of minerals without a license, called on all Ghanaians to get on board in fighting illegal mining.
He specifically made a fervent appeal to his fellow judges to take a strong position against illegal mining which he noted poses a threat to the nation.
Embattled galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, and her three accomplices, currently on trial over illegal mining activities, have once again been denied bail
by an Accra circuit court. This is their third failed attempt at requesting bail, following their arrest earlier this month.
Prior to the recent bail application, the prosecution had requested more time to advance in their investigations. Due to this and several other reasons, the presiding judge, Samuel Bright Acquah, has insisted that Aisha Huang and her counterparts remain in custody while investigations are ongoing. They are, therefore, to remain in custody for a fortnight.
Aisha Huang’s return
The four, En Huang, Jong Li Hua, Huang Jei, and Huiad Hiahu, have been charged with engaging in the sale of minerals without a licence and mining without a licence. The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, on Friday, September 16, 2022, included fresh charges against Aisha Huang. The four (4)charges filed against her were in respect of offences
committed between 2015 and 2017. They are:
Count One: Undertaking a mining operation without a licence
contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals
and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Count Two: Facilitating the participation of persons engaged
in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the
Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Count Three: Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to Section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Count Four: Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
The Fight against galamsey
The laws of the country strictly prohibit illegal mining activities. The Minerals and Mining Act proscribes sanctions for people who engage in such activities.
The Act proscribes sanctions in the form of a fine and imprisonment of between 15 and 25 years for each of the following crimes: buying or selling minerals without a licence or authority; mining in breach of the law; abetting any breach of the mining law; contracting a non-Ghanaian to provide mining support services; abetting the breach of the mining laws by a foreigner; fabricating or manufacturing floating platforms or other equipment to be used for mining in our water bodies;
and providing an excavator for an illegal mining operation.
The Act further provides that a non-Ghanaian who illegally mines or abets illegal mining attracts a large fine and imprisonment of between 20 and 25 years, and shall be deported after serving the sentence.
However, this was not seen in the case of Aisha Huang when she was initially arrested in 2017 and supposedly deported in 2018.
However, the activities of illegal miners are still on the surge due to failure of authorities in charge to strictly enforce the laws.
Meanwhile, “Operation Halt,” an anti-galamsey task force launched by the government to curtail illegal mining activities in the country, is still in operation.
Recent arrests carried out in relation to galamsey.
Aside from Aisha Huang and her accomplices, the Operation Halt task force has also facilitated the arrest of some 164 persons, comprising Ghanaians and foreign nationals, after a three- day operation at Anyinam and Mampong.
The Judge’s call on the judiciary to help in the fight against galamsey.
Meanwhile, the judge, who presided over Aisha Huang’s case
on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, called on the judiciary to help in the fight against the canker.
After the drama that characterised the first hearing of the case involving Aisha Huang and 3 other Chinese Nationals at the Accra Circuit Court 9, the galamsey Kingpin and her counterparts are expected to make another appearance in court today, September 27, 2022.
This comes following her 2nd appearance in court on September 14, 2022 where the court denied herself and her 3 counterparts bail on several grounds.
Ms. Huang who is facing six charges relating to illegal mining activities, together with 3 other Chinese nationals, were remanded by the court on Monday, September 5, 2022.
Until September 16, Aisha was facing two charges of mining along with three other accomplices, in an Accra Circuit Court, after they were arrested earlier this month including mining without license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, had hinted following the re-arrest of Huang that he would reopen a case discontinued in 2018 against her.
Four new charges were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday, September 16, 2022. The virtual hearing took place in the court of Justice Lydia Marfo.
The charges are undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
The court denied the accused persons bail after lead counsel Nkrabea-Effah Dartey on Wednesday, September 14, asked the court to grant his client and her three other Chinese counterparts bail.
Aisha Huang’s request according to GhanaWeb’s court reporter was objected to by the prosecution.
According to the prosecution, new arrests have been made therefore granting the accused persons bail may give them the opportunity to interfere with witnesses and investigations.
The prosecution while citing public interest in the matter also argued that Aisha Huang has a history of sneaking in and out of the country and is therefore a flight risk.
The court in agreeing with the prosecution’s argument remanded the accused persons into custody to reappear on Tuesday, September 27, 2022.
Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang broke down in tears while in court on Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
While it is unclear what warranted her tears, earlier reports from GhanaWeb’s correspondent indicated that one of her colleagues; the second accused; Johng Li Hua, herself a Chinese, fell sick during court proceedings and broke down in tears.
According to her lawyer, Frank Kumako, his client, Johng Li was on some medications per information from her family.
She was subsequently rushed to the hospital after she collapsed in the courtroom.
According to him, when the NIA initially noticed Aisha Huang’s attempt to renew her card, it ought to have known she was up to something.
Mr Abbey asserted that the NIA should have ordered Aisha Huang’s arrest as soon as they realized she was attempting to register using new credentials.
“A few days ago we were discussing this NIA card issue and Dzifa Gunu sent us a message that his NIA card has not been sent to him because his biometrics match that of an impaired person so since June, he has not had Ghana card.
“If you read the NIA statement (on Aisha Huang) they tell us that this woman went to the office at Tamale to register with a different passport Her biometrics matched that of the one in their system already. When they questioned her, she told them she had changed her name, although the difference was not the name but the date of birth as well.
“They then gave her the option to either bring a sworn affidavit to effect that change or do the renewal on the basis of the information they have already and I’m like who does this? She opted to do the renewal on what they have already.
“This is somebody who has come not with the view to amending her record but with a new passport attempting to register anew. That is different from the people who went to El-Wak Stadium with few challenges. This is a person who comes with a new passport attempting to acquire a new card as a different person, your system detects that her biometrics matches that of somebody in there, she confirms I’m the same person and you okay bring an affidavit so that we can effect the change for you. This is someone who has clearly established an intent”.
Aisha Huang is facing trial in court following her re-arrest. Aisha Huang is facing two charges; mining without a license and sale of minerals without a license.
The court on September 14, 2022, denied Aisha Huang and 3 other accused persons bail after they pleaded not guilty.
She is expected to reappear on September 27, 2022.
Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has expressed disgust over the way the government andpoliticians are treating the Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Huang‘s case.
Aisha Huang was arrested in Kumasi for engaging in illegal mining activities, although she was repatriated to China in 2018.
The galamsey queen re-entered Ghana slyly and continued her activities until her recent arrest.
She has since been arraigned before court and refused bail.
However, the Aisha Huang story has dominated discussions on illegal mining in the country.
But to Kwesi Pratt, Aisha Huang is not the solution to the illegal mining menace in Ghana, “so, why have we reduced everything to Aisha Huang?”
Making his submissions on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme, he further questioned; “Will imprisoning Aisha Huang end galamsey?”
“The problem is not Aisha Huang . . . I can’t understand it. Now, wherever you go, it’s Aisha Huang. When you buy newspaper, it’s Aisha Huang. On radio and television is Aisha Huang. It’s like Aisha Huang is the problem. She has now become shortcode for galamsey . . . Before Aisha Huang was born, we knew the problem in the gold industry,” he added.
He charged the government to stay focused on the fight against the menace and stop making the galamsey queen appear like her arrest is the end to galamsey.
The Ambassador of Ghana to China, Dr Winfred Nii Okai Hammond, on Thursday stated that the Embassy of Ghana in Beijing has nothing to do with En Huan, also known as Aisha Huan’s return to Ghana.
He said the Chinese national who was deported from Ghana to China in December 2018 for allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities in the Ashanti Region “did not take any visa from us.”
Dr Hammond made these remarks here when two Chinese investors paid him a visit in his office, to among others, discuss issues of common interest and mutual benefit, including investment in Ghana, job creation for Ghanaians and transfer of technology to spur economic growth.
Dr Hammond told the Ghanaian Times that it was necessary to respond to some unfounded allegations made against the Ghana Embassy for facilitating the return of Miss Huan to Ghana by issuing her a visa.
While saying that the law should be applied to the letter, he noted that En Huang’s case ought to be handled with utmost caution so as not to jeopardise the healthy relationship built by Ghana and China.
Dr Hammond noted there were many genuine Chinese businesses in Ghana contributing to the growth of the Ghanaian economy but said that those who flouted Ghana’s laws must be dealt with in accordance with law.
En Huang had already made two court appearances following her arrest, first at the Circuit Court on September 6, and at the Accra High Court on September 16 in respect of different offences.
At the Accra Circuit Court, En Huang and three others, Jong Li Hua; Huang Jei and HuiadHiahu had been charged with engaging in illegal mining in Ghana as well as engaging in sale and purchase of minerals without licence.
On September 16, the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Lydia OseiMarfo remanded the accused until October 11.
The prosecutor, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice charged En Huang with undertaking mining operation without licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in mining operation, illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the ranking member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, thinks it is absurd that Ghana’s security ministers are still in their positions following the recent Aisha Huang issue.
The recent arrest of the galamsey (illegal mining) kingpin who was expelled from Ghana in 2018 was the subject of Mr. Ablakwa’s private investigations, which he detailed. He noted that the continued tenure of some government officials in office in spite of the evidence associated with the case suggests government complicity.
“From our extensive work, there is still no credible evidence that Aisha Huang was deported to China as the President and his Senior Minister originally claimed. Based on what we now know, it is most inexplicable that many Ghanaian officials involved in this cruel and embarrassing conspiracy against our republic have not been fired and charged along with Aisha Huang in the current prosecution.
“It remains a mockery of humongous proportions that all of Ghana’s security ministers are still keeping their jobs. When nobody in authority is punished for this international disgrace and for this grand scheme which has left our environment and water bodies destroyed, the only logical interpretation is that national leadership, right from the Presidency is complicit,” the MP said in a Facebook statement sighted by GhanaWeb.
However, the state filed to discontinue her trial and subsequently deported her from the country in 2018.
The Senior Minister at the time, Nana Yaw Osafo Maafo, justified her deportation by saying it was rather in the country’s interest.
However, President Akufo-Addo took a different position by describing her deportation as a “mistake.”
But according to Mr Ablakwa, there is evidence to suggest that Aisha Huang was not deported in the first place as had earlier been indicated by government actors.
He mentioned that Aisha Huang had actually been trekking between Ghana and Togo since 2019 and had actually been doing so using approved immigration routes with the aid of two different Chinese passports.
“We can confirm that Aisha Huang has footprints of her physical presence in Ghana from as far back as February 27, 2019 — yes, more than 3 years ago, and much longer than originally portrayed.
“We now know that Aisha Huang has been living in Ghana and Togo for more than 3 years before obtaining her Ghana Card on February 27, 2022,” he said.
Aisha Huang, whose recent arrest is in connection with similar galamsey offences as her 2017 arrest, has been remanded into custody with various charges pressed against her in a magistrate and a high court.
But according to Mr Ablakwa, there is an obvious intent by the government to ensure that the Chinese national walks free from crimes as a measure to protect her accomplices.
“It is also clear to us from concrete facts we have discovered that Aisha Huang’s charges are deliberately scanty, narrow and superficial with the obvious intention of protecting guilty accomplices in high places,” he said.
He has thus reaffirmed his call for a bipartisan parliamentary probe into the Aisha Huang case.
“We are stronger in our conviction that this astonishing Aisha Huang scandal requires a full independent Article 278 Commission of Enquiry which must be broadcast live to all Ghanaians,” the Member of Parliament for North Tongu declared.
Read below full details of Mr Ablakwa’s statement on Aisha Huang:
Diligent, assiduous and industrious parliamentary oversight on the Aisha Huang scandal has produced more bombshell findings:
1. We can confirm that Aisha Huang has footprints of her physical presence in Ghana from as far back as February 27, 2019 — yes, more than 3 years ago, and much longer than originally portrayed;
2. We now know that Aisha Huang has been living in Ghana and Togo more than 3 years before obtaining her Ghana Card on February 27, 2022;
3. Our unimpeachable investigations reveal that even before Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo justified Aisha Huang’s doubtful deportation in April 2019 and long before President Akufo-Addo’s statement on the dubious deportation in September 2019, Aisha Huang was in Ghana traveling on multiple occasions between Ghana and Togo;
4. We can state authoritatively that Aisha Huang uses at least 2 Chinese Passports for her travels (see evidence attached);
5. One passport bears the name Huang En with passport number: G39575625. It was issued on January 14, 2010.
6. Her other passport has the name Huang Ruixia. It’s number is: EE9994609. This particular Chinese passport was issued on January 14, 2019;
7. Strangely, both passports have different dates of birth. In her En Huang passport (G39575625) she claims to have been born July 7, 1986 while in the Ruixia Huang passport (EE9994609) she claims to be much older having been born on November 7, 1975.
8. We have also secured her China Identity Card which indicates she was born on November 7, 1975;
9. Her Ghana Non-Citizen Identity Card has different information from her China Identity Card – she clearly told NIA officials she was born on July 7, 1986;
10. Curiously, her En Huang passport had not expired on its scheduled expiry date of January 13, 2020 when she secured her Ruixia Huang passport on January 14, 2019.
11. It’s quite striking how she makes sure her Chinese passports are always issued on a January 14;
12. Even though Aisha Huang deliberately damaged the electronic component of her Ruixia Huang passport before her latest arrest (see evidence attached), the Chinese government owes Ghana some urgent clarifications on the genuineness of both passports, and if they are genuine why Aisha Huang was issued a second passport when her earlier passport hadn’t expired;
13. We now have it on authority that her multiple trips to Togo and back to Ghana since February 2019 were not on the blind side of Ghanaian authorities. In other words, she didn’t sneak in and out through unapproved routes as the Ghanaian government’s jumbled narrative suggests;
14. We come to the firm conclusion that the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government ought to have known about her multiple travels between Ghana and Togo at a time we were told she had been deported to China because expert forensic analysis we have conducted on Ghana Immigration Embarkation and Disembarkation Stamps in her Chinese passport using the latest version of the globally acclaimed Video Spectral Comparator (VSC 8000/HS) confirms that all the Ghana Immigration Embarkation/Disembarkation Stamps in her passport are genuine;
15. Our irrefutable investigations reveal that Aisha Huang physically presented herself to Ghana Immigration officials at the Aflao border on February 27, 2019 and on April 28, 2019;
16. Despite her changing names and different dates of birth, it is most bizarre that Aisha Huang’s biometrics didn’t raise alarm at the Aflao border immigration post considering that her biometrics had previously been captured at numerous locations including at the Kotoka International Airport and the NIA;
17. Her well-stored details as contained in Ghana’s PISCES (Personal Identification Secured Certified Evaluation System) should equally have raised alarm if she didn’t have top collaborators within our security institutions;
18. It is also intriguing that the Ghanaian government didn’t appear to share intelligence on the notorious Aisha Huang with governments of neighboring countries as is standard practice, and which could have limited Aisha’s sinister movements in the sub-region;
19. From our extensive work, there is still no credible evidence that Aisha Huang was deported to China as the President and his Senior Minister originally claimed;
20. Based on what we now know, it is most inexplicable that many Ghanaian officials involved in this cruel and embarrassing conspiracy against our republic have not been fired and charged along with Aisha Huang in the current prosecution;
21. It remains a mockery of humongous proportions that all of Ghana’s security ministers are still keeping their jobs;
22. When nobody in authority is punished for this international disgrace and for this grand scheme which has left our environment and water bodies destroyed, the only logical interpretation is that national leadership, right from the Presidency is complicit;
23. It is also clear to us from concrete facts we have discovered that Aisha Huang’s charges are deliberately scanty, narrow and superficial with the obvious intention of protecting guilty accomplices in high places;
24. We believe as a responsible and patriotic opposition, we are now adequately armed to keep an eagle eye on a government that cannot be trusted on this and many matters;
25. We are stronger in our conviction that this astonishing Aisha Huang scandal requires a full independent Article 278 Commission of Enquiry which must be broadcast live to all Ghanaians.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has disclosed that based on the information at his disposal, he is certain that Aisha Huang is guilty of the accusations made against her.
Mr Jinapor stated in an interview with journalists that if proven guilty of the allegations against her, ‘Galamsey’ queen Aisha Huang will be prosecuted and imprisoned in a Ghanaian jail.
“Aisha Huang has been arrested today. She is being prosecuted and she will be prosecuted under Ghanaian law in Ghanaian court if she is found guilty which I believe she should be found and I think I am not making prejudicial comments but I am saying that given the fact that I have, I am expecting that Aisha Huang will be found guilty, convicted and sentenced and thrown into Ghanaian jail,” he said.
He further stated that other 154 persons of different nationalities have also been arrested.
These prosecutions, he said, are a testimony to the government’s fight against the menace.
“Not just related to Aisha Huang but generally deal with foreigners. Three or four days ago, we arrested 154 foreigners who were involved in illegal small-scale mining and even how to keep them was a problem…Aisha Huang’s case should not be looked at in isolation, it should be looked at in the context of foreigners being involved in Ghanaian criminality and how we deal with it.
“The assumption that the President’s whole might and effort revolve around Aisha Huang [not true],” he added.
Meanwhile, a total of 164 suspected illegal foreign minershave been apprehended by a military anti-galamsey taskforce, Operation Halt II, in the Eastern Region’s Anyinam and Mampong.
The suspects include 159 men and five women, the majority of whom are foreigners from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, and Ivory Coast.
The operation, conducted by Ghana’s Armed Forces, forms part of the government’s relaunched campaign against “galamsey,” or illegal small-scale mining.
Executive Director for the Media Coalition Against Illegal Mining, Kenneth Ashigbeyhas charged the government to prosecute Chinese National, Aisha Huang if found culpable of the charges levelled against her.
According to him, bringing Aisha to book will aid the fight against illegal mining which is posing a threat to the country’s natural resources and serve as a deterrent to others.
“She is being prosecuted and she will be prosecuted under Ghanaian law in Ghanaian court if she is found guilty which I believe she should be found and I think I am not making prejudicial comments but I am saying that given the fact that I have, I am expecting that Aisha Huang will be found guilty, convicted and sentenced and thrown into Ghanaian jail,” he said.
His comment comes after the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, filed four new charges against ‘Galamsey Queen’ Aisha Huang.
These charges, according to the Attorney-General, cover offences committed between 2015 and 2017.
Aisha Huang, who is currently on trial for her involvement in illegal mining activities known as ‘galamsey,’ was initially charged with the sale and purchase of minerals without a licence and engaging in illegal mining without a licence.
The Attorney-General filed new charges on Friday, September 16, 2022, including: “Undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995” and “Facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.”
The others are; “Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573)” and “Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.”
Aisha Huang is standing trial together with three accomplices, who are all Chinese nationals. This is the second time Aisha is facing trial in the country over ‘galamsey.’
On September 14, 2022, she was denied bail by an Accra Circuit Court in a separate case in which she and three accomplices were charged with the offence of engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a licence.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said that Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang will face the full rigors of the law and spend jail time in Ghana if found guilty of engaging in illegal mining activities popularly referred to as galamsey.
In an interview on Face to Face, a program on Accra-based Citi TV, the minister expressed optimism in the evidence he is privy to, stating that he was confident it could land the Chinese national a conviction.
According to him, this can be made possible following the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s reformation of the laws to proffer tougher and stiffer sanctions on persons, particularly foreigners, who engage in the illicit activity.
He indicated for instance that judges under Act 995 can no longer have the discretion to award fines against foreigners who are found on the wrong side of the law.
“Aisha Huang has been arrested today. She is being prosecuted and she will be prosecuted under Ghanaian law, Ghanaian court. If she is found guilty and I believe she should and would be found, I believe so…I hope so and I am not making prejudicial comment but given the facts that I have, I am expecting that Aisha Huang will be found guilty, convicted and sentenced and thrown into Ghanaian jail.
“That should become possible because of the substantive legislative and policy intervention that the government of President Akufo-Addo is putting in place. If we did not, a judge would have had the discretion to fine her for example and there’s nothing that the government could have done.
“Working with Parliament, we brought Act 995 which ousted the discretion from a judge sitting in court to mete out a fine to a foreigner who is found to be involved in illegal mining activities,” Abu Jinapor said.
The minister who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for Damongo also said the focus of the galamsey fight should not be on only Aisha Huang.
He mentioned that government was doing its bit to arrest all foreign nationals who are engaged in galamsey.
He disclosed that 154 foreign nationals for example were arrested by the state security service in the course of the week.
“Not just related to Aisha Huang but generally deal with foreigners. Three or four days ago, we arrested 154 foreigners who were involved in illegal small-scale mining and even how to keep them was a problem…Aisha Huang’s case should not be looked at in isolation, it should be looked at in the context of foreigners being involved in Ghanaian criminality and how we deal with it.
He suggested that it is not true “the assumption that the President’s whole might and effort revolve around Aisha Huang.”
Aisha Huang was recently arrested for engaging in galamsey-related activities. She is reported to have entered the country via the Togo border after her deportation.
She appeared in court on September 14 together with three other accomplices to answer the state’s charge against them.
The initial charges were mining without a valid license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a permit.
They pleaded not guilty and were remanded into police custody and set to reappear on September 27.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General last Friday, filed four new charges against Ms. Huang. The new charges are undertaking a mining operation without a license, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, and the illegal employment of foreigners and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
The lead counsel for Aisha Huang, Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey, has said he only decided to defend the galamsey kingpin in order to earn a living.
According to Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey, he has the responsibility of providing for his wife, children and extended family.
He therefore dismissed criticisms against him for defending Aisha Huang,who is alleged to have destroyed the country’s water bodies due to illegal mining.
“People who are blaming me for defending Aisha Huang don’t know what they are saying. I have a wife, children and grandchildren, so I’m only working for my daily bread,” he is quoted in a report by Oyerepafmonline.com.
“I’m defending Aisha Huang for my daily bread”, he reiterated.
Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dartey has faced public ridicule for deciding to defend the Chinese national.
However, when asked what his position would be when given an appointment by the Akufo-Addo-led government, he said, “I will stop.”
He added that “anytime you see me defending Aisha Huang, it means she has paid me fully. As we speak, I’ve been paid fully.”
Meanwhile, the lawyer expressed concern about access to his client, saying, “my only worry is that I find it difficult to get access to my client. I feel the state is not treating her fairly.”
He, however, expressed optimism that his client will be discharged of the charges pressed against her as he believes the state lacks evidence to prove the charges.
Background
Ms. Huang, in 2017, was charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act; and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).
Her case was, however, discontinued, and she was deported. Her deportation meant the state discontinued the trial against her.
She, however, found her way back into the country, leading to her recent arrest. A court last week remanded Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals into custody to reappear on charges of illegal gold mining and trading.
Her recent arrest is on the same issue of illegal mining.
Former Deputy General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has accused the erstwhile Mahama government of issuing an indefinite resident permit to Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang.
In an interview with Okay FM on September 16, the former NPP scribe berated the opposition National Democratic Congress over the politicization of prosecution of the Chinese national and the consequent doubt it cast on same.
On his substantive accusation, Obiri Boahen said Aisha Huang was granted the resident permit in 2015 even though she had hitherto been trying to acquire one during the tenure of President Kufuor.
“Would you believe that on 28th March 2015 Aisha Huang was given an indefinite resident permit here in Ghana? Meaning she lives here in perpetuity. This was done during NDC’s time. President Mahama’s government gave Aisha Huang the permit on 28th March 2015. Meanwhile, she was unsuccessful to get the permit during President Kufuor’s time,” he said.
There have been varied accounts on whether or not Aisha Huang left the country in 2018 after the state filed a nolle prosequi in a case involving her.
While government has maintained that she left the shores of the country, state prosecutors in her recent case have said that she sneaked out of the country.
President Nana Akufo-Addo also in an interview on a Ho-based radio station cast doubts on whether Aisha Huang was deported or she fled the country.
The president said: “I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it”.
The comment by the president has raised several eyebrows with the Minority pushing for a full-blown probe into the circumstances of Aisha Huang’s ‘deportation’.
Meanwhile, Aisha Huang has been denied bail together with her three accomplices. They have been remanded in custody for two weeks. Last Friday, the AG filed four new charges against Ms. Huang, one of which relates to reentering the country illegally.
Member of Parliament(MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged the notorious galamsey queen, Aisha Huang illegally obtained a dubious male Ghanaian Passport which she used to mislead immigration officials to entrench her stay in Ghana.
According to Ablakwa, the fiction about Aisha Huang being married to a Ghanaian is not the first time, as she’d made similar claims a decade ago when she deceived Ghanaian immigration authorities that she married a Ghanaian called Anthony Fabian at a 2007 wedding in China.
The North Tongu lawmaker said he’s extremely disappointed in the prosecution that Huang has therefore not been charged with offences relating to her estranged husband, Anthony Fabian, describing it as a grand criminal enterprise.
She used that alleged scheme to secure an indefinite permit from the Ghana Immigration Service, the MP said.
” It remains a mystery how she managed to obtain a Ghanaian male passport in the name of a ghostly Anthony Fabian with Passport Number: H2554456,” the lawmaker said in a Facebook post.
He noted that court documents in his possession from her 2017 and 2018 aborted prosecution and other intercepted official records reveal that the Passport Office and the Foreign Ministry had absolutely no information about any application by the said Anthony Fabian for a Ghanaian passport. There was also no manual or biometric trace.
Ghana’s Birth and Death Registry also has no record of anyone called Anthony Fabian
Mr. Ablakwa claimed that when detectives insisted that she provide Anthony Fabian, Aisha claimed that her husband was a New York resident.
PISCES (Personal Identification Secured Certified Evaluation System) system checks, however, produced a negative result.
She gave security personnel a New York phone number, but it was never answered.
She was also unable to give a legitimate New York address.
The congressman further revealed that immigration records show that no Anthony Fabian has ever entered the country through the Kotoka International Airport or any other entry gateway that has been authorized by us.
Pictures of Aisha’s Anthony Fabian (not the British film producer, writer, and director Anthony Fabian) don’t seem to exist, not even photos from their wedding.
Since 2007, Anthony Fabian has remained a shrouded husband, according to the Facebook post.
Three weeks have passed since security personnel once again detained Chinese national Aisha Huang at her Ahodwo home in Kumasi.
Aisha was first arrested in May 2017, and was arraigned, as well as charged with undertaking illegal small-scale mining.
The Chinese national who was identified as one of the bigwigs in the illegal mining trade was allegedly “deported” to China without being prosecuted in 2018.
However, Aisha Huang’s return to the country has sparked much debate, with several contradictory accounts as to whether she was deported or not.
Some argue that the decision to first not prosecute her in 2018 is in breach of Ghana’s Mineral and Mining Act, 2006.
The Mineral and Mining Act, 2006 states that a non-Ghanaian who illegally mines or abets illegal mining attracts a large fine and imprisonment of between 20 and 25 years, and shall be deported after serving the sentence.
But in explaining the government’s decision, the then Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, stated that the 1,641 Chinese nationals arrested and repatriated over ‘galamsey’ since 2009 government decided that Aisha
Huang be deported without imprisonment, to maintain a good relationship with China.
At a town hall meeting in the US in April 2019, he said, “We have a very good relationship with China.
Today, the main company that is helping develop the infrastructure system in Ghana is Sinohydro. It is a Chinese company. It is the one that is going to help process our bauxite and provide about two billion dollars to us… So when there are these kinds of arrangements, there are other things behind the scenes.”
“Putting that lady (Aisha Huang) in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems. It is not going to make you or me happy, that’s not important, the most important thing is that she has been deported out of Ghana.”
President Akufo-Addoaddressing a forum at Princeton University during his visit to the US in 2019, stated emphatically that Aisha Huang’s deportation was a “mistake”.
The two statements by the two government officials suggest that Aisha Huang was deported in 2018.
However, some state officials have made a quick U-turn, proposing that Aisha Huang was repatriated rather than deported as earlier reported.
According to the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the galamsey kingpin was repatriated from Ghana in 2018.
He went on to say that a repatriation order was issued to this effect and that Aisha was put on a flight and exited Ghana.
The President, who has been championing Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, is now claiming that he is in doubt about whether Aisha Huang was deported from Ghana in 2018 or not.
“I’m not still sure whether she was in fact deported. Or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it,” he said while speaking on a Ho-based radio station, as part of his tour of the Volta Region on Monday, September 12, 2022.
According to the prosecutors in the galamsey case against the kingpin, Aisha Huang sneaked out of the country in 2017 to avoid prosecution.
Nevertheless, a report by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) issued a notice of revocation of permit and repatriation dated December 19, 2018, addressed to En Huang, the name used by Aisha Huang.
The notice was signed by the Comptroller-General, Kwame Asuah Takyi.
There is also a boarding pass in the name of En Huang on Ethiopian Airlines Flight No. ET 920 from Accra to Addis Ababa, dated December 19, 2018.
She was reportedly placed at seat no. 32F and used gate C7 to board and flew economy.
First and foremost, what is repatriation and deportation? Deportation is the involuntary return of a person to their home country, usually due to a violation of the law, illegal entry, or overstaying of their visa.
On the other hand, repatriation is the process of bringing or sending someone back to their home country in a desirable situation, typically a prisoner of war, refugee, or hostage.
Unlike deportation, repatriation is voluntary.
It is, therefore, surprising to say that Aisha Huang, who was charged with three counts of undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, Government makes a U-turn on Aisha Huang’s deportation 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), was rather repatriated and not deported.
The Ghanaian people have questioned the government’s commitment and competence in combating illegal mining in the country as a result of contradictory statements by state officials.
So far, the charges levelled against her exclude that of an immigrant breaching the country’s laws on deportation/repatriation.
Per the Immigration Act, 2000 section 35; a person who enters Ghana when a deportation order made against him or her is in force commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years and may be deported without any further deportation order being made.
Also, in section 8 of the Immigration Act, an immigration officer may arrest a prohibited immigrant without a warrant and effect his repatriation or arraign him before a court for an offence under subsection (2).
A person who fails to comply with a directive given under subsection (5) to remove a prohibited immigrant commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five million cedis or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding twelve months, or to both.
Charges against Aisha Huang after her second arrest Aisha Huang was charged with: undertaking small-scale mining,operations contrary to the Minerals Act, providing mining support without service without valid registration, illegal employment of foreign nationals, mining without a licence, engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid licence.
Aisha Huang, according to reports, is likely to spend two years in prison if proven guilty of the said offences.
Aisha Huang, the galamsey queen of illicit small-scale mining, is currently accused of six different immigration offenses and related mining-related offenses.
Aisha and her co-conspirators were detained earlier this month, and they were all charged with two crimes before an Accra Circuit Court until yesterday, September 16.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, had hinted following the re-arrest of Huang that he would reopen a case discontinued in 2018 against her.
The four new charges were filed at the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court on Friday September 16, 2022. The virtual hearing took place in the court of Justice Lydia Marfo.
The new charges, according to a charge sheet, are as follows:
Count One: Undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Count Two: Facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2)(a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.
Count Three: Illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
Count Four: Entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
The two charges she faces in the Circuit Court are:
Mining without license and
Engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals.
The Circuit Court case will be next heard on September 27 whiles the High Court case is due back in court on October 11.
The Center for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, has said that the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, as well as other pertinent state authorities need to be questioned over the issue involving galamsey bigwig, Aisha Huang.
In an interview with Starr News, Senior Programs Manager for CDD-Ghana, Paul Yaw Abrampah, said the case’s twists and turns raise the question of whether the president receives routine security briefings.
“The President is our leader, and he makes appointments and swears in all executive positions in the country, and he is aware of people’s duties. The president can call his Minister in charge of the Interior or National Security and get facts on these issues easily.
“The National Security Coordinator, the National Security Minister, the Interior Minister, and the Ghana Immigration Service is under the Ministry of Interior. So this should not be an issue that the president should go on air and say he is confused as to what actually happened. Are we saying that the president is not getting detailed security briefings in the country,” Mr. Abrampah quizzed.
He added that: “Now that it has become a big issue that you are supporting the Attorney General to take up the issue, you should definitely be getting a briefing on it. So I expect the president to summon the Interior Minister under whose jurisdiction issues of migration falls to give a full fact and briefing to him.”
Mr. Abrampah added that given the current legal status of the matter, it might be an error for the president to fire any of his appointees in connection with the Aisha Huang scandal.
“Definitely, with the judicial service, if the case should travel the length of the law. They will call for witnesses and call for facts of the case. That is where we are going to get the full facts of the case.
“I got a hint that the Minority caucus is planning to summon people to come and give them facts or wanting to establish an independent investigation into the issue. All of these will complement the process to unravel the actual truth in the case. If it happens that there were compromises on the way, then the law must take its course,” the Programs Manager added.
It will be a crime for Aisha Huang to release video footages of her sexual encounters with Ghanaian officials.
That’s the reaction of former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee onIllegal Mining, Charles Bissue on the return of theChinese businesswoman who is currently facing criminal charges of mining in Ghana without a license.
There are doubts that government would proceed with the prosecution of the case due to reports that the Chinese woman controls a powerful cartel that is blackmailing Ghanaian ministers of state and high ranking state officials.
Meanwhile, Editor of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako has disclosed that Aisha Huang, nicknamed ‘galamsey queen’ has a series of recorded sex videos involving persons serving in the incumbent and previous administrations.
Reacting to fears that Aisha Huang may resort to releasing the videos as a trump card to evade prosecution, Charles Bissue argued that it will go against her if she does that.
“Whatever sex video she has with people, were they with underage children? No, he answered while adding that it might be “consensual” and that “she in the first place videoing that is a crime… whatever sex that happened the person was not raped,” he explained.
Mr. Charles Bissue further recounted how there were attempts to blackmail him during his tenure as Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee to shelve some investigative reports at his outfit, a proposal he declined.
Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress(NDC), Peter Boamah Otokunor, has lampooned President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over his recent comment on Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang.
President Akufo-Addo, it will be recalled, stated in an interview earlier this week that he was uncertain about the purported ‘deportation’ status of the notorious Chinese national.
Speaking in an interview on Stone City Radio in Ho during his tour of the Volta Region, the president said: “… I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it.
But speaking to the media on the sidelines of an NDC press conference on September 15, Otokunor described the president’s state of unawareness as one too many and of great concern.
“…I wonder how somebody who is supposed to have been deported and the president admitting that she has been deported. The senior minister, if you want the prime minister Osafo-Maafo saying that she has been deported, all of a sudden the president is playing dumb and saying that he doesn’t know that the woman has been deported.
“I think that it is becoming one too many and it is becoming a worrying trend. You have a sitting president who always says that he is not aware of decisions he himself has undertaken.
“The President has issued executive instrument and he says he is not aware. He has written letters of authority and he says he is not aware. Corruption appears under him and everybody is talking about it and he says he is not aware.
“Today, Aisha Huang, he is saying that he is not aware that Aisha Huang was deported. Very soon he will say that he is not aware he is the president of this country and I think we should be worried. We should be concerned,” Otokunor said.
His comments are similar to earlier ones made by Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr who said on the September 14 edition of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme:
“There have been all kinds of interpretations to what the President said in that interview in the Volta region. There are those who are saying the president merely is talking about his own memory capacity and he is saying that he cannot remember what really happened. Whether the woman fled on her own accord or that she was deported.
“If that is the case, it is still a source of worry. You have a president who can forget such live issues and [it] actually expose his memory weakness. It is worrying in any democratic institution.
Meanwhile, Aisha Huang has been denied bail together with her three accomplices. They have been remanded in custody for two weeks.
Captain (Rtd.) Nkrabea Effah Darteh, the attorney for the Chinese galamsey kingpin, has said that his client flew all the way back to her country in 2018.
This comes amid dispute over the “repatriation or deportation” status of AishaHuang.
In an interview with Okay FM on September 15, the lawyer said his client called him three days after arriving in China to confirm her arrival.
According to him, Aisha Huang stated that she was put on an Ethiopian airline to Addis Abeba, from which she continued to China.
“I interacted with her briefly when she was ‘deported’ from Ghana. I was surprised she left the country. She called me three days later from China to inform me that she has been taken to China. I asked her what happened.
“She explained that when she went to the police headquarters, she was put in an Ethiopian Airline plane and back to China. Since then, I did not speak to her until five years later that I read in Graphic that she has been arrested and detained,” Effah Darteh said.
“There have been varied accounts on whether or not Aisha Huang left the country in 2018 after the state filed a nolle prosequi in a case involving her.
While government have maintained that she left the shores of the country, state prosecutors in her recent case have said that she sneaked out of the country.
President Nana Akufo-Addo also in an interview on a Ho-based radio station cast doubt on whether Aisha Huang was deported or fled the country.
The president said: “I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it”.
The comment by the president has raised several eyebrows with the Minority pushing for a full-blown probe into the circumstances of Aisha Huang’s ‘deportation’.
Meanwhile, Aisha Huang has been denied bail together with her three accomplices. They have been remanded in custody for two weeks.
The accused individual faces a minimum fine of 30,000 penalty units, which is equal to (GHc360, 000), and amaximum sentence of 20 years in prison, the judge said in his verdict on Aisha Huang’s bail application.
He said that based on the severity of the matter, the accused person cannot be granted bail.
Samuel Bright Acquah said the reason, citing Article 96(5) of Act 30, is that the accused may not appear to stand trial or may interfere with any witness or evidence or hamper the investigations of the police in any way.
The judge explained that the first accused person; Aisha Huang, may interfere with evidence due to her influence in the country.
He added that the court may also refuse bail if the accused is likely to commit a further offence on bail or the offence the accused is charged with was committed whilst on bail.
In ascertaining whether or not an accused may appear to stand trial, he said the courts are again guided by the conditions in section 96(6).
These are; inter alia the nature of the accusation, the nature of the evidence available, the severity of the punishment if he is subsequently convicted, and if he has breached any previous bail requirement, whether he has a fixed place of abode in Ghana and is gainfully employed and if his sureties are competent enough.
He added that the severity of the offence has to do with illegal mining which has been committed by foreigners.
Aisha Huang is facing trial in court following her rearrest.
Aisha Huang is facing two charges; mining without a license and sale of minerals without a license.
The court on September 14, 2022, denied Aisha Huang and 3 other accused persons bail after they pleaded not guilty.
She is expected to reappear on September 27, 2022.
A former small scale miner, Robert Owusu, has disclosed that Aisha Huang came to Ghana as a cook for small scale mining engineers when small scale mining began some where in 2002.
An Accra Circuit Court has remanded Chinese national, Huang Ruixia alias Aisha Huang and three others for allegedly engaging in illegal mining in Ghana.
The accused persons were charged for engaging in sale and purchase of minerals without a licence.
The other three are Jong Li Hua; Huang Jei and Huiad Hiahu, all Chinese nationals. Aisha Huang is facing an additional charge of engaging in mining without a licenceFrom a cook to ‘galamsey queen.
She was arraigned last Friday [September 2, 2022] and her plea to the charges are yet to be taken by the court presided over by Bright Acquah since the court had no Chinese interpreter at the time.
Speaking on Okay FM’s ‘Ade Akye Abia’ programme, Mr Owusu who chronicled how Aisha Huan entered the country explained that she was first brought into the country to help her colleague Chinese nationals as a cook for them.
He, however, noted that Aisha Huang developed an interest in galamsey and rapidly grew her business after getting connections with top Ghanaian government officials.
According to a report by Onua FM, the police recovered three pump action pistols and threeexcavators during the arrest.
The operation comes after five other Chinese nationals were arrested in connection with the theft of two excavators and unlawful mining activities.
Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive of Ellembelle, Kwasi Bonzo, and four others have been arrested and granted police enquiry bail over an incident involving one of the missing excavators.
The DCE is accused of interfering in police duties by seeking to stop the transportation of the excavator to the Western Regional Police Command in Takoradi.
The Deputy Minister of Defence, Major (rtd) Derek Oduro, says it is possible for the country to win the fight against galamsey but has also admitted that there are many obstacles .
He made the comments in relation to the recent issues concerning Chinese national, Huang Ruixia alias Aisha Huang and that of the missing excavators at Ellembelle.
After being deported in December 2018, Aisha Huangand three others were recently arrested and remanded for allegedly engaging in illegal mining in Ghana.
The accused persons were charged for engaging in sale and purchase of minerals without a licence.
Speaking on Atinka TVs morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Major (rtd) Derek Oduro said, “It is possible to fight galamsey, but there are so many obstacles, there are so many mine fields that should be protected but people are sabotaging it, and they know what they are doing is not good but they are using it to do politics. Because of the galamsey fight, a lot voted against the NPP, we are all aware that most of the places where the people do galamsey, they voted against NPP,†he said.
He also advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government not to allow Members of Parliament (MPs) to lead the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) in their communities.
Derek Oduro observed that when it happens like that, the people tend to vote against the MPs during election, a situation he believes is unfair on the part of the galamseyers.
“If we want a solution to this menace, what we should do is that, we should not allow any MP in the areas where they mine to get involved in the fight against galamsey. We should not allow any of them to lead the fight against galamsey because his own people, the youth who vote for them are part of the galamseyers so when you go and speak against it then you have an issue. Meanwhile, if you do not talk about it to things go bad,†he said.
Director of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Professor Kwesi Aning, has asserted that notorious illegal small-scale mining kingpin Aisha Huang is a Chinese spy who is waging economic warfare on the country.
In a September 7 interview with Accra-based Joy FM, Prof Aning anchored his argument on the reasons given by the state for the deportation of the Chinese national in 2018 when she was arrested for illegal mining activities otherwise known as galamsey.
According to him, Aisha Huang was no ordinary person if the influence she wielded could affect the Sino-Hydro loan the country was seeking from China at the time of her deportation.
He believes the galamsey kingpin is engaging in galamsey activities to pollute the country’s waterbodies, eventually affecting cocoa crops.
“There’s a massive institutionalized trafficking scheme enabled by high-level corruption and collusion. And we find this in galamsey. In the Rosewood criminal enterprise, the Chinese merchant involved or the state agent involved is Huang Yan Chen, also known as Helena Huang, so what we are looking at is that these criminal enterprises are not just by ordinary people.
“These are state agents who are almost untouchable because if we go back to 2017 and 2018 escape of Aisha Huang and the argument that she has been released because we were looking for the Sino-Hydro loan and that was she to be prosecuted, it would affect the loan, then Aisha is not an ordinary Chinese gangster. She’s an agent of the state. She’s a spy.
“And her expertise is in economic warfare; deliberately destroying our environment and our water bodies through galamsey so that the cyanide and the mercury will go through our underground water, come through the food chain and destroy the cocoa crop. And we know that Japan, in particular, that loved our cocoa beans, is now disturbed because they found traces of chemicals in our cocoa beans. So we need to elevate this conversation over and above ordinary people stealing excavators,” Prof Aning said.
Aisha Huang was recently arrested for engaging in galamsey-related activities. She is reported to have entered the country via the Togo border after her deportation.
Aisha Huang has since been remanded by an Accra High Court and is set to reappear with three others on September 14.
The Attorney General’s office has also assured that it will prosecute Aisha Huang for her past and present crimes.
It will be recalled that Aisha Huang gained notoriety as an illegal mining kingpin in 2017. She was arrested for the same conduct but later deported, with the state discontinuing the trial against her.
Justifying why the state had to deport the Chinese national, the Senior Minister, Nana Yaw Osafo Maafo, addressing some concerns of Ghanaians in the diaspora at a town hall meeting on April 18, 2019, revealed that, “Putting that woman [Aisha Huang] in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your money problem. It is not going to make you happy or me happy.”
But President Akufo-Addo, in 2019, said the deportation of the Chinese galamsey kingpin was a ‘mistake’.
After the arrest of Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, on Monday, September 5, 2022, it emerged that she is a Ghana Card holder, having acquired the ID from the National Identification Authority in February 2022.
Media reports suggested that Ms Huang despite last leaving by air, returned to Ghana via the eastern land border i.e. Togo.
Whilst the report is silent on when she first reentered and how many times she has been in and out of the jurisdiction, it turned out that she also used a different name on her return.
But NIA has denied registering any applicant by the name of Aisha Huang. According to the NIA, its National Identity Register (NIR) does not contain any record of a person named AISHA HUANG.
“Put differently, the name AISHA HUANG does not exist in the National Identification System (NIS) databaseâ€, the NIA said in a statement dated September 6, 2022.
Explaining the viral Ghana Card suggesting that the galamsey kingpin has been given the Ghana card, the authority said that the particular registration was done in 2014 with the name Huang En and was renewed in 2016 and 2018 in Kumasi.
It said a Chinese national tried to register a new non-resident Ghana Card in August 2022 with the name Ruixia Huang, but its system flagged it because the biometric details matched that of Huang En.
Since she could not provide proper details to authenticate her new identity, NIA in the statement said:
“Huang En opted to renew with the old details and then go through the affidavit and gazette process later, after which she would then provide the documents for the update to be done. Her renewed Non-Citizen Ghana Card was then issued to her on 25th August 2022, bearing the old name. This card is what is now impugned and trending on social media.â€
Political analyst Kweku Adu-Gyamfi has raised questions about the procedure followed by the government for the deportation of illegal mining (‘galamsey’) queen Aisha Huang in 2018.
Adu-Gyamfi, speaking in an XYZ interview monitored by GhanaWeb, berated the government for extraditing Aisha Huang even though she was not found guilty of any crime in Ghana.
“What should have happened was that the courts in Ghana should have Aisha Huang found guilty, but the government will negotiate with the Chinese government so that she will serve her sentence there.
“Who authorized the deportation of Aisha Huang while her case was still in court? If someone is being prosecuted for a crime, is it right to deport her? Where in this world do we do that kind of thing?
“*How is in charge* of our airports? We have National Security at our airport. So, who authorized the deportation of Aisha Huang out of the country?” he said in Twi.
On Monday, September 5, 2022, the Accra Circuit Court 9, presided by Samuel Bright Acquah, remanded Aisha Huang into custody.
This was after Miss Huang, who was deported from Ghana in 2018, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license and mining without a license.
The court could not record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
The accused persons were not represented by a lawyer. The court adjourned sitting on the case to Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
How she re-entered the country without detection till her recent arrest has been the major question on the minds of many Ghanaians.
Director of public relations of the Ghana Immigration Service, GIS, Supt Amoako-Atta, has disclosed that the Aisha Huang case is currently being handled by National Security.
He explained in an interview with Accra-based TV3 that the sensitivity of the matter was the reason why it had been taken over by National Security despite her interception by Immigration officers.
Aisha Huang is a Chinese national who became notorious for her involvement in illegal small-scale mining, galamsey, and was deported in 2018 after the state discontinued a case against her.
Asked what possible immigration charges Huang could face, he responded: “That is an illegal entry and currently as we speak, National Security is handling the issue because of how sensitive it is, and she was taken to court and a remand taken against her.
The GIS spokesman also denied that Huang had been in the country for more than three months as reported by some media outlets. “The information I have from our officers is not the three months that you are talking about.
“By mid-August and second September, she was intercepted by our officers… when it comes to the borders, we have not hidden the fact that our borders are porous especially in the subregion, and it is not peculiar to the West Africa subregion alone but across the world,†he added.
Aisha Huang arrested
On Monday, September 5, 2022, the Accra Circuit Court 9 presided by Samuel Bright Acquah, remanded Aisha Huang, into custody.
This was after Miss Huang, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a licence and mining without a licence.
The court could not take into record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
The accused persons were not represented by a lawyer. The court adjourned sitting on the case to Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
How she re-entered the country without detection till her recent arrest has been the major question on the minds of many Ghanaians.
She had reportedly re-entered the jurisdiction through the eastern border with the name, Huang Fe.
Aisha Huang arrested in deported from Ghana in 2018
Ms. Huang, who was described as “untouchable†on some media platforms, was in 2017 charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act; and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).
Her deportation meant the state discontinued the trial against her.
The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame has assured the general public that the Chinese National, Aisha Huang will face full prosecution for her new and past offenses before her deportation from Ghana in 2018.
The Attorney General taking to his Twitter handle stated that he has called for the docket on Aisha Huang, from the Police.
“There shall be a full prosecution for her alleged new and past offences†Godfred Yeboah Dame said.
The Chinese woman is standing trial for engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license.
Her return has sparked outrage following her deportation to China in 2018 over similar charges.
Aisha Huang was said to have returned to her country and changed her identity only to come back to Ghana and commit the same crime.
She is said to have applied for a Togo Visa and went through the borders into Ghana and back to the galamsey business in a town in the Ashanti Region.
Barely 24 hours following the news of Aisha Huang‘s re-arrest following her earlier deportation in December 2018, former Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo has been topping trends on Twitter.
This was after Miss Huang, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license and mining without a license.
The court could not take into record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
Prior to this development, Aisha Huang was arrested and deported from Ghana in 2018, and was charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act; and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).
Many are on social media questioning what the next possible defense of the former Senior Minister will be considering he gave justification previously as to why Aisha Huang could not be prosecuted.
“So, what all does osafo Marfo want? Every scandal he is involved. I suspect he is the landlord of Aisha Huang.†Barima Osei Tutu quizzed
“I’m sure Osafo Marfo will come up with a great reason why we need to just repatriate her back to China. Just like last time.†El Jefe added
“My interest is in what Mr Osafo Marfo go say this time around, †another user said.
Chinese national and galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang‘s re-arrest after her deportation in December 2018 has dominated the news headlines for obvious reasons.
How she re-entered the country without detection till her recent arrest has been the major question on the minds of many Ghanaians.
According to new details that have emerged, Huang opted to use Ghana’s eastern land border to enter the country when she decided to return to continue her trade.
According to a report by Accra-based Citi FM, Aisha Huang returned to Ghana through the Togo border in January this year and upon her arrival acquired a Ghana card in February 2022 with a new name, Huang En.
The report added that sources confirmed that she always sneaked out of Ghana when she got intelligence about the possibility of an arrest.
Despite coming in through Afloa, Aisha made the Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi her base from where she engaged in the business of selling mining materials. She was arrested with other accomplices at Ahodwo in Kumasi.
On Monday, September 5, 2022, the Accra Circuit Court 9 presided by Samuel Bright Acquah, remanded Aisha Huang, into custody.
This was after Miss Huang, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license and mining without a license.
The court could not take into record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
The accused persons were not represented by a lawyer.
Based on the circumstance, the lead prosecutor, Chief Inspector Detective Frederick Sarpong, prayed to the court for an adjournment.
The court adjourned sitting on the case to Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
Aisha Huang arrested in deported from Ghana in 2018
Ms. Huang, who was described as “untouchable” on some media platforms, was in 2017 charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act; and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).
Her deportation meant the state discontinued the trial against her.
Aisha Huang, a galamsey moguland Chinese national, avoided immigration officials and returned to Ghana to carry on illicit activities despite being controversially deported in 2018.
According to reports by Citi News in Accra, Huang returned to Ghana via Togo, the eastern land border, despite having last left by air.
It turned out that she also used a different identity on her return, even though the record is quiet on when she initially reentered and how frequently she has entered and exited the jurisdiction.
This was proven through documentation showing that Huang applied for and received the Ghana Card in February 2022 under the name “Huang En” after returning.
The Citi News report added that she always sneaked out of Ghana when she got intelligence about the possibility of an arrest.
Despite coming in through Aflao, Aisha made the Ashanti Regional capital of Kumasi her base from where she engaged in the business of selling mining materials. She was arrested with other accomplices at Ahodwo in Kumasi.
On Monday, September 5, 2022, the Accra Circuit Court 9 presided by Samuel Bright Acquah, remanded Aisha Huang, into custody.
This was after Miss Huang, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license and mining without a license.
The court could not take into record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
The accused persons were not represented by a lawyer. The court adjourned sitting on the case to Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
How she re-entered the country without detection till her recent arrest has been the major question on the minds of many Ghanaians.
Aisha Huang arrested in deported from Ghana in 2018
Ms. Huang,who was described as “untouchable” on some media platforms, was in 2017 charged with undertaking small-scale mining operations contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).
She was also charged with providing mine support services without valid registration with the Minerals Commission, contrary to Section 59 and 99 (2) of the Minerals and Mining Act; and also charged with illegal employment of foreign nationals (in breach of section 24 of the Immigration Act and regulation 18 of the Immigration Regulations).
Her deportation meant the state discontinued the trial against her.
