Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has called for a full-scale independent enquiry into events leading to Aisha Huang’s entry into the country.
According to him, the illegal galamsey operator has in a “spectacular fashion exposed all the grand claims” by government officials and national security operatives that they are ready with well-equipped and modern sophisticated systems to combat terrorism. He indicated that if one “notorious Chinese galamsey queen can so dribble an entire security apparatus like hot knife through butter”, then everyone in the country is in very big trouble.
“I also wonder what exactly is happening to the billions of Ghana Cedis Parliament has approved over the years for an enhanced security climate. Government or preferably Parliament must immediately establish a full-scale independent enquiry into the entire chain of events…”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Among other things, Mr Ablakwa in a Facebook post expressed the need for government to find out whether Aisha Huang was truly deported and the terms of deportation between government and its Chinese counterparts. He further questioned why her biometric features wasn’t shared with the intelligence community in the sub-region to prevent her from using neighbouring countries as a launch pad and an entry point.
“Who are her collaborators in ‘high places’ as she couldn’t have pulled this off alone? Why is our government not protesting to the Chinese authorities for seemingly facilitating the atrocities of their national? Who were the immigration officials on duty the day she allegedly re-entered Ghana? Why should those in charge of national security keep their jobs after this?”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Failure of government in tackling illegal mining
Meanwhile, Minority Leader has revealed that the re-arrest of illegal mining kingpin, Aisha Huang, has exposed government’s inadequacy in tackling the ‘galamsey’ fight. He indicated that the President did not mean his words after he promised to fight the canker.
Mr Iddrisu opined that the natural resources of the country are still destroyed by the activities of illegal mining.
“It exposes the porosity of our borders but for me, it reflects a fundamental failure of the government on his illegal mining fight and ‘galamsey’ fight to which he has committed enormous resources. What is the end result? Our water bodies are still being polluted, illegal mining is still ongoing, escalators were seized and burnt and some even got missing. This reflects again as I said the anomaly of our time.”
Haruna Iddrisu
The Minority Leader highlighted that the law enforcement agencies must take up the matter and make sure she is subjected to the full rigors of the law without any fear or favour. He noted that if that isn’t done, it will be impossible to arrest a Ghanaian engaging in illegal mining.
It will be recalled that an Accra court on Monday, September 5, 2022, remanded Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals in police custody. Aisha Huang, 47, was deported in 2019 after she was first arrested in 2017 for mining without licence.
She is facing a charge of mining without a licence and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid license. Her accomplices: Johng Li Hua, Huang Jei and Huaid Hai Hun have been charged with engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a licence.
Appearing before court on Monday, the prosecution revealed Aisha had gained notoriety for engaging in a series of small scale mining activities known as ‘galamsey’ across the country. The prosecution stated that early this year, Aisha “sneaked” into Ghana having changed the details on her Chinese passport.
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