Aisha Huang’s mother mentioned in court 

The mother of embattled Chinese national Aisha Huang has been mentioned in court by a prosecution witness in the ongoing High Court trial.

Superintendent David Essien, the second prosecution witness on Tuesday, told the court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo that Aisha Huang’s mother is the co-director of a licensed small-scale mining company at Bepotenteng in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region.

"My lord, when I encountered the accused on two occasions, we took two statements from her. My lord, in those two statements, she mentioned that she rents excavators to Egyir Mining Company, which has a mining concession at Bepontengteng. My lord, investigations followed and as a result, I was tasked to invite one of the directors of Egyir Mining who is in the person of Aston Ahenkang Egyir," Superintendent Essien said.

"The said director honoured our invitation, and a caution statement was taken from him on May 19, 2017. In the said statement, Mr. Egyir said he has known the accused for 3 years, and the accused used to mine on a concession that shares a boundary with their small-scale mining concession.

"Mr Egyir further indicated that their company has not entered into any agreement of renting excavator machines as claimed by the accused rather, the accused’s mother who is also the director of the company leased 3 acres of their concession for the accused to mine out of which the accused to pay them as promised," the witness added.

He was responding to a question by the counsel for the accused, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, who said the witness had no facts against the accused person engaging in mining operations.

Superintendent David Essien on Monday, November 14, 2022, gave his witness statement to the Accra High Court presided by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo where he told the court about the two occasions he ever came into contact with the accused.

According to the prosecution witness, he first met the accused on August 30, 2016, when a publication about her alleged galamsey activities at Bepotenteng in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region was reported in the media.

The witness, who is an officer of the Ghana Immigration Service assigned to the enforcement unit, said he was tasked with investigating the report to ascertain the residence status of the accused as well as the allegations contained in the report.

He said the accused person honoured an invitation by the GIS and submitted her passport, which showed her status as a permanent resident.

The witness added that he encountered the accused person a second time when a team of immigration officers arrested some Chinese nationals who were engaged in illegal mining activities at Bepotenteng in 2017.

The suspects told the arresting officers that they had their passports with the accused, who is their employer.

Superintendent Essien said he later got the accused person to honour an invitation following which her statement was taken and she together with those arrested were sent to the head office of the Immigration Service in Accra.

During the cross-examination of the witness by the defence counsel, lawyer Nkrabea Effah Dartey questioned whether the first encounter between the witness and the accused person was only in reference to her immigration status.

But responding to the question, the witness said it was to investigate other issues about the accused person.

He said the investigations established that the accused had actually acquired her residency permit by purporting to have been married to a Ghanaian and backing same with forged documents.

"When we examined the passport she was on an indefinite permit which was granted her based on her supposed marriage to a Ghanaian known as Anthony Fabian. However, investigations conducted by the Ghana Immigration Service established that the accused used a forged marriage certificate and forged Ghana passport in support of her application for the indefinite residence permit," he said.

The witness told the court that the discovery led to the revocation of the permit granted to the accused and also led to her repatriation in 2018.

"As a result of this the comptroller general of the GIS revoked the indefinite residence permit on grounds of fraudulent misrepresentation in accordance with Section 22 Subsection 2 of Immigration Act 2000 Act 573 which led to the subsequent repatriation of the accused on December 19, 2018," he stated.

Aisha Huang is facing charges for engaging in mining and the sale of minerals without a license.

She was recently arrested in Ghana following her repatriation in 2018.

Aisha Huang, who is said to have been engaged in illegal mining upon her return to the country, according to the prosecution entered the country using forged documents and identity.

Hearing of the case is scheduled to continue on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, with the prosecution expected to call its third witness.