Probe Aisha Huang Saga – Professor Aning
Security analyst Professor Kwesi Aning is asking President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo why official sources have conflicting information on how Chinese Galamsey Queen Aisha Huang exited the country in 2017 to hold those who misled the presidency accountable.
Director of the Faculty of Academic Affairs of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Prof. Kwesi Aning, has said that the president should ask some tough questions to unearth where the controversies are coming from to build trust since the Ghanaian populace can no longer differentiate which sources to trust, especially in this galamsey saga.
“We are facing a trust deficit of such humongous proportion that no one in this country right now trusts what is coming from official sources. It is clear that those that we have entrusted to protect us are afraid of something that this woman knows or has and therefore are denying and possibly have lied to the president. I think it is up to the president to pass the tough questions and make some heads roll,” Prof. Aning suggested.
The 47-year-old Aisha Huang, who became popular after her arrest in May 2017 and was tagged as Galamsey Queen, re-entered the country.
She was arrested again a few weeks ago and charged with three others — Jong Li Hua, Huang Jei and Huiad Hiahu — for selling and purchasing minerals without a licence and mining without a licence.
Facts of the case before the court
As narrated in court, the complainants are security and intelligence officers, and the accused persons are Chinese nationals.
The prosecution said Aisha had gained “notoriety” for engaging in a series of small-scale mining activities known as galamsey across the
country.
It said in 2017, Aisha was arrested for a similar offence, but she managed to “sneak out” of the country, averting prosecution.
The prosecution said early this year, Aisha “sneaked” into Ghana, having changed the details on her Chinese passport.
The suspect is said to have applied for a Togo visa and went through the borders into Ghana.
Aisha then resumed small-scale mining activities without a license and further engaged in the purchase and sale of minerals in Accra without valid authority as granted by the Minerals and Mining Act.
The prosecution said she engaged in the sale and purchase of minerals with the three accused persons and that intelligence led to their arrest.
All four accused persons are to reappear on 27 September 2022.