I’m not sure Aisha Huang was deported – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that he is not very sure Aisha Huang was deported the first time.
He said he did not know for a fact whether the galamsey queen was sent back to China after her arrest.
Speaking in Ho, the President said he was not privy to the final details of the deportation.
“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.”
“But whichever way it is, she’s become the sort of nickname for all that galamsey represents”, he said.
“We have concerted to work at it. We need to have the coorporation of the courts. Until recently when I came, the punishment for people caught was relatively light. [But] we’ve changed the law to stiffen the punishment for people caught,” he added.
In his view, efforts to clamp down on illegal mining have seen a massive improvement under his watch as President.
The President, therefore, urged Ghanaians to sustain the momentum in dealing with the menace.
“The efforts have brought a lot of fruits first of all. Galamsey is now a subject of national discussion. Everywhere you go, there’s this matter of galamsey. We’ve at least achieved this purpose of heightening consciousness about it as an evil.”
The President had earlier stated his support for the prosecution of Ms. Huang.
Speaking at a conference of the Ghana Bar Association in Ho, as part of a two-day tour of the Volta region, President Akufo-Addo indicated his support for the prosecution of the suspect by the Attorney General.
“…to show you of my full support of the Attorney General in his determination to prosecute Aisha Huang and her collaborators who apparently insist on flouting our laws on galamsey and illegal mining.”
“I expect if they are found guilty, that the court will apply the full rigour of the new amended Act 995 which has increased substantially the punishment for breaches of the law,” President Akufo-Addo stressed.
Aisha Huang was first arrested in May 2017 and charged for undertaking illegal mining but was subsequently deported.
