Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resource Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has criticized the Akufo-Addo-led government saying it has failed in the fight against illegal mining known as ‘galamsey’.
This follows the return of Chinese galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang, who was rearrested and arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court last Friday for engaging in illegal mining.
The former Tamale Central lawmaker also accused the government of not being brave enough to prosecute Aisha Huang when she was first arrested in 2019.
After her arrest years ago, the then Senior Minister, Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo said that jailing the Chinese illegal mining Queen for engaging in illegal mining 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.
“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 was captured in a viral video saying
But responding to the latest development, the former Minister insisted that the decision by the government to swap Aisha Hung with money was not the best.
Speaking on Citi FM in an interview, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said, “for the Senior Minister to have said then that, it was in the national interest to deport and not to prosecute the Chinese national who was engaged in illegal mining not only exposes us to public ridicule on the international place,
it also showed lack of commitment on the government to fight the menace and so I am not surprised that Aisha Huang has come back to the country. I think that it is even in the interest of this government to prosecute Aisha Huang this time”, he added.
