The Member of Parliament for the Tamale North constituency, Alhassan Suhuyini doubts the government is really committed to fighting illegal mining (galamsey) as it claims.
According to Mr. Suhuyini, the series of events that have characterised galamsey queen, Aisha Huang’s case is enough proof that all government has done about the menace is to talk about it.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi TV/FM, the Tamale North MP said government’s claims to be fighting galamsey is “nothing but a charade.”
“The first fight failed, the President admitted to it, then in his second term, he appointed a Minister he calls energetic to revive the fight. The Minister then spends a lot of money, travelling around the country, and talking to people. Trips that in one instance cost us about 10 million cedis. What has come out of all these engagements?”
“One of the biggest disappointments that the media coalition suffered was Aisha Huang’s first arrest and how she was either deported or repatriated or smuggled because we do not really know what the facts are, only for the Senior Minister of the President to boldly tell us in the face that it was not financially prudent for us to prosecute her, and they could not tell us behind the scenes of the negotiation.”
“Fast forward, we have this lady rearrested and are told that she actually fled from justice, yet we had the president previously admit to us that her so-called deportation was a mistake. The issue comes up again, and the President is unsure if she was indeed deported. How can government try to pose itself to be fighting the menace after all these? Point has to be made that there has really never been a commitment to this fight,” he added.
Responding to this, former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Mr. Charles Bissue, said “it is signposting to say that money has been spent and nothing has been done.”
The debate surrounding galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, has been reignited after she was recently arrested and remanded into police custody over illegal mining.
Reports indicate that Aisha came to Ghana from a neighbouring country through a land border.
Upon her arrival, she also acquired a Ghana card in February 2022 with a new name, Huang En.
