Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has clarified comments by his boss, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on issues regarding the deportation of galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang.
President Akufo-Addo, while speaking in an interview with Stone City Radio in Ho during his tour of the Volta Region, expressed uncertainty about the deportation of Aisha Huang in 2018.
“…I am not still sure whether she was, in fact, deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it,” Akufo-Addo said.
The comments seemed to have jolted the Minister who was sitting ight behind the President, he raised his head abruptly following the president’s words. Before this, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah appeared to have bowed his head, seemingly on his phone.
Akufo-Addo continued: “Whichever way it is, she has become a sort of nickname for all that the ‘galamsey’ represents and also, unfortunately, for the involvement of Chinese nationals in this illicit trade,” the president continued.
The comments attracted lots of reactions on social media for the better party of September 13. The Minister reacted to tweet by GhanaWeb citing his shock at the President’s words.
He denied flatly that the president expressed uncertainty about Aisha’s deportation and sought to explain that the comment bordered on the difference between deportation and repatriation.
His tweets read: Prez @NAkufoAddo has never said he isn’t sure if Aisha Huang left Ghana. Please quote him well. He said he wasn’t sure whether she was deported or she fled.
“The reason for the President’s comment is that there is a difference between deportation and repatriation.
“While the Minister for Interior can deport, the Immigration Service cannot. The instrument which the Immigration Service uses in such circumstances is a repatriation notice. Either way, the effect was that she was caused to exit from Ghana at the material moment,” he stressed.
It will be recalled that Aisha Huang gained notoriety as an illegal mining kingpin in 2017. She was arrested for the same conduct but later in 2018 deported, with the state discontinuing the trial against her.
She has recently been rearrested for reentering the country illegally and engaging in galamsey-related activities. She is due in court in the coming days with the Attorney General announcing that she would face old and new charges.
Justifying why the state had to deport the Chinese national, the then Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, addressing some concerns of Ghanaians in the diaspora at a town hall meeting on April 18, 2019, revealed that, “Putting that woman [Aisha Huang] in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your money problem. It is not going to make you happy or me happy.”
source: Ghana Web
