I’m concerned Freddie Blay is defending alleged accomplices of Aisha Huang – Lands minister

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said that he is worried about the fact that the immediate past Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, is the lawyer for the accomplices of the alleged illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang. According to him, even though there might be nothing wrong with Freddie Blay representing the alleged ‘galamseyers’, his decision to do so ties into allegations that Aisha Haung is connected to powerful politicians, citinewsroom.com reports. “Am I concerned about that situation? Yeah, I am concerned because it has a way of fueling conspiracy theories. “Whether rightly or wrongly or grounded or not grounded, it will fuel conspiracy theories, but it is a matter we have to live with because that is the reality. We don’t have control over it,” the Lands Minister said at a press briefing in Accra. Samuel Abu Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, however, indicated that noise surrounding the trial of the alleged 'galamseyers' will die off if Ghanaians see that the government is doing all it can to hold them accountable. “What we have to do is to continue to prosecute these accused persons in a very spirited manner and hopefully secure convictions and secure severe punishments to them, and that will dispel all the conspiracy theories that are being bandied around.” Freddie Blay, who is the immediate past chairman of the NPP, has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that he is the main lawyer for Huang's four co-accused including Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng. You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/SARA

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said that he is worried about the fact that the immediate past Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, is the lawyer for the accomplices of the alleged illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) kingpin, Aisha Huang. According to him, even though there might be nothing wrong with Freddie Blay representing the alleged ‘galamseyers’, his decision to do so ties into allegations that Aisha Haung is connected to powerful politicians, citinewsroom.com reports. “Am I concerned about that situation? Yeah, I am concerned because it has a way of fueling conspiracy theories. “Whether rightly or wrongly or grounded or not grounded, it will fuel conspiracy theories, but it is a matter we have to live with because that is the reality. We don’t have control over it,” the Lands Minister said at a press briefing in Accra. Samuel Abu Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, however, indicated that noise surrounding the trial of the alleged 'galamseyers' will die off if Ghanaians see that the government is doing all it can to hold them accountable. “What we have to do is to continue to prosecute these accused persons in a very spirited manner and hopefully secure convictions and secure severe punishments to them, and that will dispel all the conspiracy theories that are being bandied around.” Freddie Blay, who is the immediate past chairman of the NPP, has come under heavy criticism after it emerged that he is the main lawyer for Huang's four co-accused including Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng. You can also watch this episode of People & Places on GhanaWeb TV: IB/SARA