Kwadaso NPP Chairman, Aisha Huang’s ex-lover charged over ‘galamsey’ offenses
The Kwadaso Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Bonna Boadi, has been charged for his complicity in illegal mining activities.
The accused, popularly known as Chairman Bonna, was charged together with Shi Yueming, believed to be the ex-boyfriend of convicted Galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang.
The duo pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Chairman Bonna is facing two counts including facilitating the participation of a non-Ghanaian in a mining operation without a license.
Aisha Huang’s ex-lover has to answer to undertaking a mining operation without a license, attempting to commit an offence namely undertaking a mining operation without a permit and harboring a criminal.
They have both been admitted to bail. In the case of Chairman Bonna, he is expected to report to the National Intelligence Bureau office in Kumasi once a month.
Per the facts, the first accused is believed to be the one-time boyfriend of Aisha Huang while the second accused Chairman Bonna is a contractor and resident at Kwadaso.
Investigations disclosed that Shi Yueming took over the businesses of Aisha Huang in Kumasi, after her repatriation from Ghana and communicated with her regularly.
According to the prosecution, the house where Aisha Huang was arrested was rented by Shi Yueming, “the first accused and he knowingly allowed Aisha Huang to stay there in defiance of the terms of her repatriation which were known to him to avoid her detection and arrest.”
The prosecution said that Shi Yueming was declared wanted in connection with other cases but remained in hiding until his arrest in June 2023.
Further investigations revealed that Shi Yueming was found to be instrumental in the acquisition of forged documents or irregularly obtained immigration permits for other Chinese nationals.
The facts stated that he was also found to have secretly married a young Deborah Bekoe, who at the time was engaged by him as a domestic worker.
The prosecution explained that the court has since annulled the said marriage.
According to the prosecution, the first accused person, “undertook mining operations at Nimbreso in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region between November 2021 and January 2022, when he had no license to do so.”
“The unlawful mining activities of the first accused person were facilitated by the second accused person who provided land and executed an agreement with the first accused person to mine on the land.
“The first accused paid an amount of GH¢100,000.00 to the second accused person for the parcel of land on which he mined,” the facts stated.
The duo shared the proceeds of their mining activities every week.
The prosecution said, sometime in March 2022, the second accused trespassed on a parcel of land belonging to FGM Mining Company at Mpintimpi in the New Abirem District in the Eastern Region.
Without notice to FGM Mining Company, the second accused moved excavators and other mining activities to the land where he took soil samples for testing to engage in mining activities without a license.
His attempted mining activities were halted when he concluded that the land was not rich in minerals to mine.
Due to these facts, the accused persons were hauled before the court.
The case has been adjourned to May 21, 2024.
The prosecution has since been ordered to file all disclosures and serve them on the accused persons before the next adjourned date.