President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says he is unsure whether popular Chinese ‘Galamsey Queen’ Aisha Huang was initially deported from Ghana after her arrest in 2017.
Aisha Huang was first arrested in May 2017 and charged with undertaking illegal mining, but the case was controversially discontinued, with orders to have her deported to China.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the reappearance of Aisha Huang raises questions about whether she ever left Ghana in the first place.
Speaking in an interview as part of his tour of the Volta Region, 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.
The president had earlier stated his support for the prosecution of Ms. Huang as the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, revisits and makes an effort to prosecute Aisha Huang for her past and recent crimes.
Speaking on the fight against illegal mining, President Akufo-Addo noted that it had gained more popularity during his administration than in the previous.
He believes that under his watch as president, efforts to stop illicit mining had significantly improved.
Therefore, the president encouraged Ghanaians to keep up the momentum in addressing 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.
“When I came, nobody was talking about galamsey. Since we came and focused on it, it is now the subject of discussions in homes, in offices, in meetings and all across Ghana. So that’s one positive development,” stressed.