Chinese woman, Ms En Huang, also known as Aisha Huang, standing trial for undertaking mining operation without a lincence, yesterday told the Accra High Court, she did not facilitate illegal mining in the country.
She also denied buying any land in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region for illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey. Aisha Huang, who was spoke through a Chinese interpreter, before Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, the presiding judge, said that she knew about the presence of the Chinese in the country, but “I did not facilitate their operation in Ghana and Amansie West.
She said “I and my company did not own any land which I have been accused of nor had any dealings with the prosecution witnesses like Ransford Aborabora, Albert Appiah, Teye Ali and Albert Amenya neither my company has bought any land from the witnesses or bought any land from Amansie West.”
Ms Huang stated that she did not have a driving licence and could not operate any machines or an excavator, for “the witness to play into the narratives played in the media and the story of PW3.”
She told the court that she only followed up on the arrest of four Chinese arrested because they were Chinese men, and she needed to assist them at GIS for renewal of their passports.
The trial will continue on July 17. The Accra High Court has ordered En Huang, to open her defence to charges of illegal mining.
The court held that a prima facie case had been made against En Huang, also known as ‘galamsey queen’, by the state.
Ms Huang is currently facing three counts of undertaking mining operation without licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation and the illegal employment of foreigners.
The accused on May 3, 2023, changed her plea of entering Ghana while she had been prohibited from re-entry, and had been convicted on that charge with her sentencing deferred to the end of the trial of the remaining charges.
The prosecution on May 3, 2023, closed its case after calling 11 witnesses.
The court said, it was clear that illegal mining had taken place at Bepotenten in the Amansie West District of Ashanti Region.
It also ruled that the said illegal mining activities were done without license or authority from the sector minister.
The court had directed Ms Huang to file her witness state statements by July 3, 2023.
En Huang, has been accused of engaging in galamsey, especially in the Ashanti Region.
She was deported from Ghana in 2018, after the Attorney General (A-G) discontinued her trial in which she was accused of engaging in small-scale mining without licence.
But, she was said to have sneaked back into Ghana to allegedly engage in the same activities for which she was deported.
The A-G, Godfred Yeboah Dame decided to prosecute her for the alleged crimes before her deportation and new ones committed since her entry back into the country.
BY LAWENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU
