OccupyGhana, a social and political non-partisan pressure group, has welcomed the decision of the High Court to convict and sentence Ms Aisha Huang for her involvement in illegal mining activities in the country.
The pressure group in a press statement issued in Accra on Wednesday and copied the Ghanaian Times indicated that “We do not celebrate the imprisonment of any person. But we, very grudgingly, acknowledge the work of the Attorney-General in completing this long-standing trial.”
It said the decision was in the right direction as the only way to win the fight against galamsey was to fully apply the law.
“We hope that public officials are learning the necessary lessons from this saga. We recall that on 16 May 2017, in the wake of the matter, we were compelled to petition the Attorney-General when we saw the charge sheet and noticed that Ms Huang had been charged with mere immigration infractions, which did not match the severity of the illegal mining that she had been engaged in. We therefore requested the Attorney-General ‘to call for the docket on this matter, investigate the charges laid and filed, and if found necessary, for fresh, proper, weightier and more relevant charges to be filed or added,” the statement added.
Aside petitioning the A-G on the matter, OccupyGhana indicated that it had to engage other stakeholders such as the Media Coalition Against Galamsey (MCAG) and government to ensure the law was properly applied.
However, OccupyGhana asserted in the statement issued that it was pleased the A-G was able to complete the long-standing trial of Ms Huang.
Ms Huang was on Monday was sentenced to four-and-a-half year in prison by the Accra High Court for engaging in illegal mining.
In addition, she was fined GH¢48, 000 and is to be deported after serving her jail term.
Ms Huang was found guilty of undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, illegal employment of foreigners and entering the country while prohibited from re-entry.
BY TIMES REPORTER
