My client never sneaked out of Ghana – Aisha Huang’s lawyer
Captain (retired) Nkrabea Effah Dartey, lawyer for galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, has told Citi News that the controversial illegal miner did not sneak out of the country as has been submitted by police prosecutors.
This contradicts facts presented by the prosecutors in court on Wednesday, which accused Aisha Huang of sneaking in and out of Ghana upon her first arrest in 2017.
But in a counter-narrative, the lawyer told Citi News that, Aisha Huang was actually state-facilitated out of the jurisdiction.
“This cannot be true. Aisha was never declared a persona non-grata. Why is officialdom trying to shy away from what really happened? Why are different impressions being created? She [Aisha] told me that, they put her on a flight back to China”, Nkrabea Effah Dartey said.
Despite the government providing evidence of a repatriation notice and the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, saying she was repatriated, the prosecutors in court on Wednesday gave a contrary narrative.
She again sneaked back into Ghana early in 2022, according to facts presented by the prosecutors in court on Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
Aisha Huang and three others were denied bail after the court hearing on Wednesday.
She is standing trial with three other Chinese nationals; Jong Li Hua, Huang Jei and Huaid Hai Hun.
They have all been charged with mining without a valid license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a permit.
Since Aisha Huang was arrested earlier in September, there has been controversy about how she left Ghana and how she ended back in the country.
The initial reporting on the case was that she had been deported in 2018 after filing a nolle prosequi to discontinue an earlier case against her.
But North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, claimed Aisha Huang was not escorted during her “supposed deportation” as was required.
In the days after Mr. Ablakwa’s comments, President Akufo-Addo also said he was unsure whether Aisha Huang was deported from Ghana in 2018 or fled.
This prompted the government to share documents indicating she was given a notice of repatriation in December 2018.
The Information Minister also said definitely that Aisha Huang had been repatriated.
By: Sixtus Dong Ullo
