Former Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister Joseph Yammin is asking Former Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo how positive the decision to deport Chinese national and galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang has been to the country.
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo after Aisha Huang was deported from the country categorically in a leaked video that went viral stated that jailing the Chinese illegal mining “queen” was not important as it was not going to solve Ghana’s economic problems.
“We have a very good relationship with China. Today, the main company that is helping develop the infrastructure system in Ghana is Sinohydro. It is a Chinese company. It is the one that is going to help process our bauxite and provide about $2 billion to us”, Mr. Osafo-Maafo was quoted to have said.
“So when there are these kinds of arrangements, there are other things behind the scenes. Putting that lady in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems. It is not”, he added.
But years down the line, Mr. Joseph Yammin is of the view that, after the country decided to deport her instead of jailing her, the economy is still suffering with the cedi performing abysmally against the dollar.
“Has the economy improved after we decided not to jail her? At the time when she wasn’t jailed, the dollar rate to the cedi was GHC4.00”, Joseph Yammin told Kwame Tanko on Angel FM in Kumasi in an interview.
He further alleged that there are people in government behind her, “I mean Osafo Marfo will not defend her for nothing. And she is dealing with them”.
Aisha Huang’s arrest
Chinese national and a ‘galamsey’ kingpin Aisha Huang was remanded in custody by an Accra Circuit Court last Friday.
She is currently facing a charge of mining without a license and engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a valid license.
Her accomplices; Johng Li Hua, Huang Jei and Huaid Hai Hun have been charged with engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license.
According to information gathered so far, Aisha Huang, a 47-year-old who was deported in 2019 came back to Ghana through a land border of a neighboring country.
Upon her arrival, she also acquired a Ghana card in February 2022 with a new name, Huang En
