According to OccupyGhana, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's fight against the menace destroying the water bodies in the country died on the day the government took a bold decision to truncate the prosecution of a Chinese national, Aisha Huang who brazenly engaged in illegal mining.
OccupyGhana said the government's "epileptic and faltering fight [against] galamsey gives the impression that it is unwilling to follow and apply the law."
In a statement, it said: "When Aisha Huang was first arrested, she was charged with some ludicrous, risible, and insignificant administrative breaches of immigration regulations."
"It took a protest and a petition by OccupyGhana® on 16th May 2017 for her to be charged with the proper offences under the Minerals and Mining Act, which, as we will show, provides for serious punishment for illegal mining," it added.
The pressure group stated that Aisha Huang's "quiet and hurried deportation by the government was to avoid subjecting her to the full rigours of the law.
"We insist that that unfortunate truncation of the judicial process sounded the death knell to the galamsey fight."
Gov't fails to prosecute Aisha
Aisha was arraigned before the court on May 9, 2017, for engaging in galamsey activities at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region.
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The Attorney General's department, subsequently in December 2018 withdrew the case against her and four other Chinese nationals believed to be engaging in illegal mining. They were hurriedly repatriated to their country.
Osafo Marfo on Aisha Huang's prosecution
In 2019, Osafo Marfo addressing a town hall meeting abroad said Ghana has a great diplomatic relationship with China and intends to partner them in key infrastructural projects citing the $2 billion Sinohydro deal.
"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," he said.
"So, when there are these kinds of arrangements, there are other things behind the scenes. Putting that lady [Aisha] in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems.
"It is not going to make you happy or me happy, that's not important, the most important thing is that she has been deported from Ghana," he added.