Former President John Dramani Mahama has said that his government was faced with illegal mining known as ‘galamsey’, just like the current administration, but he handled it differently.
He stated that, as president, he deported almost 5,000 Chinese who were involved in illegal mining in the country without jeopardising Ghana’s relations with China.
The former president explained that the then government joined forces with the Chinese government to facilitate repatriation.
“I deported almost 5,000 illegal Chinese miners. I didn’t say because of the good relationship we have with China, we should allow them to continue to engage in illicit activities, and we collaborated with the Chinese Embassies, they got 747s, and they came and took their nationals away.”
“It didn’t destroy our relationship,” he stressed.
Mr Mahama added that any Chinese national who goes contrary to the laws of Ghana should be made to face the full rigours of the law, just as a Ghanaian in China who breaks the law.
“When I was president, we valued the relations with China, but if you are a Ghanaian and you go to China, and you engage in illegality, they don’t say because of the good relation they have with Ghana, they are going to let you go scot-free.”
“You are going to face the full rigours of the law in China, and I don’t doubt that there are some of our citizens in jail in China,” he stated in an interview with TV3.
Mr Mahama’s comment comes in the wake of issues surrounding the re-arrest of the popular Chinese businesswoman Aisha Huang. She is standing trial at an Accra Circuit Court for engaging in illegal mining.
Background
Aisha, a Chinese national and her compatriots were arraigned before the court on 9 May 2017 for engaging in illegal small-scale mining at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region.
She was charged with three counts of undertaking small-scale mining operations, contrary to Section 99 (1) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 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).
The other four accused persons were charged with disobeying directives given by or under the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573).
According to the prosecution, Aisha had a mining concession at Bepotenten and also operated a mining support services company.
The four other accused persons, it said, were employed by Aisha to work at the mining site.
The prosecution claimed checks at the Minerals Commission revealed that Aisha had no licence to operate either a mine or a mining support services company.
They also contended that the visas issued to all five Chinese by the Ghana Embassy in Beijing, China, did not allow them to work in Ghana.
During the prosecution, the government controversially discontinued the case and deported her in December 2018.
However, the Galamsey Queen has been re-arrested for a similar offence after sneaking back into the country.
The 47-year-old, who gained notoriety after her arrest in May 2017 and was tagged as the Galamsey Queen, was arraigned on fresh charges.
This time, the deported queen was charged with three others for engaging in sales and purchases of minerals without a licence.
She is also on a provisional charge of mining without a licence.
Her plea on the two charges was reserved due to the unavailability of a Chinese interpreter when she appeared at the Circuit Court in Accra on 2 September.