Was Aisha Huang deported or sneaked out? What the fact sheet says

The fact sheet on the latest trial of Chinese galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang and three other Chinese nationals suggests that she deliberately averted prosecution by sneaking out of the country five years ago.

It was widely believed in 2017 that Aisha Huang, also known as En Huans, was deported after a nolle prosequi was filed by prosecutors in the middle of her trial.

Then Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo confirmed the said deportation by indicating that the prosecution of the notorious galamsey queen could mar the hitherto cordial diplomatic relations between Ghana and China.

He expressed fears the Sinohydro deal could be abandoned if Aisha Huang had been prosecuted and possibly incarcerated, a situation which could have seen the stalling of major infrastructure projects.

Later in 2019, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed unhappiness about the purported deportation of the Chinese businesswoman.

“I think the decision to deport Aisha Huang in hindsight was a mistake and that is why that process and procedure is being stopped,” he stated at a forum at Princeton University, USA.

But on Tuesday, in a radio interview in Volta Region’s capital city of Ho, President Akufo-Addo said he was not sure if Aisha Huang was deported or fled the country.

“When you have the situation like this woman [Aisha Huang]…I am not still sure whether she was in fact deported or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back or whatever but there still seems to be some uncertainty about it,” he said.

Aisha Huang was denied bail on Wednesday, September 14 when she appeared before an Accra Circuit Court.

Aisha Hunag, three others denied bail

The fact sheet sighted by 3news.com about the ongoing case spells out that in 2017 Aisha Huang “managed to sneak out of the country averting prosecution”.
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“During the early part of 2022, [she] sneaked back into the country after having changed the details on her Chinese passport.”

The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has already served notice Aisha Huang could be jailed for two years if found to have breached the immigration laws of Ghana.