Aisha HuangÂ
Galamsey Queen, En Huang aka Aisha Huang, a Chinese national standing trial for engaging in illegal mining and illegally re-entering Ghana after her deportation in 2019 has parted ways with her long-standing lawyer, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey.
Mr. Dartey had been representing the beleaguered Chinese national in her criminal trial both at the Circuit Court and the High Court, where she is facing trial for charges relating to illegal mining and employing foreign nationals.
He had been her lawyer since 2018 when she was hauled before an Accra High Court for illegally mining at Bepotenten in the Ashanti Region until the trial was truncated and she was eventually deported by the Ghana Immigration Service after it turned out that the documents she used in securing her indefinite resident permit were forged.
Mr. Dartey was absent when the case was called yesterday. Miracle Attachey announced himself alongside Hope Agboado, as counsels for Aisha Huang. No explanation was given for the replacement.
Aisha Huang was deported in December 2018 after the then Attorney General, Gloria Akuffo, entered nolle prosequi to discontinue her trial which was ongoing before an Accra High Court.
She, however, managed to re-enter Ghana this year and was able to obtain the Non-Citizen Ghana Card in February, a situation which had many Ghanaians questioning Ghana’s Immigration policies and whether she was indeed deported in 2018.
She was rearrested in September, 2022 and charged for illegally re-entering Ghana following her repatriation in 2018 when she was arrested in May 2017, and put on trial for a similar offence of illegal mining.
Among the four charges is the restoration of the charge of illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to section 24 of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573, which was one of the charges she was facing during her first rial.
Cross-Examination
Nana Kofi Sarfo Prempeh, the prosecution’s third witness, yesterday whilst under cross-examination told the court that Aisha Huang continued to mine illegally in 2017 in spite of government placing a ban on the activity, which has become a national menace in the country’s mining areas.
He was answering question on the state of a writ issued on behalf of Volta Resources Limited against Aisha Huang, who was allegedly encroaching on the company’s concession and mining illegally.
“The substantive case of illegal mining on the concession of Volta Resources Limited against the accused was not heard but the accused continued to mine illegally and at this juncture, the Government of Ghana had announced a nationwide ban on illegal mining, nevertheless.
“Rather than pursue the court case, the company decided to report activities of foreign nationals undertaking illegal mining on the concession of Volta Resources to the Ghana Immigration Service. “This then led to the arrest of those foreign nationals engaged in illegal mining on the concession of Volta Resources, and those arrests subsequently led to the arrest of Aisha Huang, who now stands accused for illegal mining,” Nana Prempeh told the court.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak