My long stay in Kumasi made me the go-to person for Chinese nationals - Aisha Huang

Aisha Huang, the infamous Chinese galamsey kingpin standing trial over her activities in the illegal mining sector of Ghana, has told a court in Accra that she was a focal point for many Chinese nationals coming to Kumasi because of how long she had been living there.

She explained this in the opening of her defense in the case brought against her by the State, a report by 3news’s Laud Adu-Asare said.

The report added that during the proceedings on Monday, July 10, 2023, En Huang popularly referred to as Aisha Huang, submitted her witness statement to court in which she narrated how she came into contact with the four other Chinese nationals arrested with her.

She explained that she lived at Ahodwo in Kumasi in the Ashanti region; owned a supermarket, from where she learned basic English language to enable her run the day to day activities of the business.

She added that both Ghanaians and other Chinese Nationals patronised her business.

However, Aisha Huang denied engaging in illegal mining and facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, stressing that she never operated a mining site, the report added.

“I am a Chinese national and lived at Ahodwo, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of the Republic of Ghana from 2011 until I was deported in December 2018. I say that between the years 2013 and 2018, I operated a supermarket popularly known as Aisha Supermarket at Ahodwo, Kumasi having a dominantly Chinese customer base. I say again that I have no formal English or Twi language education and cannot read or write any of these two languages.

“I say yet again that by virtue of my long stay in Ghana and interactions with Ghanaians, I have a beginner’s appreciation of the English language for my daily routine in Ghana. I say further again that by virtue of my long stay in Ghana, the operation of my supermarket and beginner’s appreciation of spoken English, I became very popular among Chinese nationals, my people, living in Ghana especially those who find their way to Kumasi specifically and the Ashanti Region in general because most of them cannot speak or understand Twi and English which are the main languages of communication and interaction in the Region.

“I became a point of reference, the go-to person and a place of safe custody for most of my people which I am happy to do though it came with huge responsibilities and risks like the ongoing prosecution. I also became a point of reference for most Ghanaians and some state institutions including the Ghana Immigration Service in their dealings with Chinese nationals in the region,” she stated in her witness statement, the report added.

Aisha Huang was rearrested after she was repatriated from the country, but found her way back within a period that she was not allowed to return to Ghana.

She is standing trial on charges of entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573; and charges of engaging in illegal mining.

AE/WA