Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini under the erstwhile John Mahama administration has disclosed that although the Mahama administration was committed to the fight against illegal mining in Ghana, he never heard of ‘galamsey queen’ Aisha Huang when he served as Lands Minister.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, the former Minister explained that he was so committed to the fight against ‘galamsey’ that there was no way he wouldn’t have acted if he knew of Ms Huang.
“I would have deported Aisha Huang if she was arrested in my tenure but she never came to my attention neither did I hear of her because based on my posture on ‘galamsey’, I was able to deport about 5,000 illegal miners from Ghana,” he stated.
Mr Fuseini, who is the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, said he will still criticise the government on the deportation of Ms Huang because he expected the government to prosecute her.
“Aisha Huang was arrested and taken to court on several occasions by the New Patriotic Party administration, but why didn’t they continue with her prosecution but just decided to deport her?” He asked.
Mr Fuseini added that the fight against galamsey needs a different focus by the government to be successful.
“If Aisha Huang was powerful as we are saying, then it means her connections were stronger but this galamsey fight needs commitment, dedication, focus and passion,” he urged.
Ms Huang and four of her Chinese employees, who were engaged in illegal mining at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti region, were arraigned on May 9, 2017.
However, the Attorney General issued a Nolle Prosequi for the case to be discontinued and she was subsequently deported from Ghana.
Meanwhile, some Ghanaians have described the deportation as a betrayal of the fight against galamsey by the government after a vow to deal with illegal miners whose actions had destroyed the country’s land and water bodies.
Credit: Adom News