Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has reacted to the claim by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that Chinese galamsey magnate Aisha Huang was unescorted during her deportation in 2018.
According to the Minister, he cannot confirm or deny that Aisha was escorted during her deportation because the brief he has on the process does not contain that particular bit of information.
“In the brief I have, those particulars are not available, I am not saying they are not available but in the brief I have, they are not.” Oppong Nkrumah said during an interview with Accra-based radio station Joy Fm on Tuesday, September 13th 2022.
“The brief I have gives me details of the flight, when it left Accra, when it got to its destination through transit to China with her aboard. That is the brief I have, that is the brief I will share with you and you can validate…in the brief I have, I do not have answers to questions about, was she escorted? How many people escorted her?,” Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said during the interview.
His comments come in response to questions raised by the North Tongu MP over shady events surrounding Aisha Huang’s supposed deportation in 2018.
In a four-part expose on the mysterious case of Aisha Huang, Okudzeto Ablakwa said the deportation of Aisha in 2018 was filled with a lot of malpractices pointing toward the fact it was a cover-up.
Aside Huang not being escorted whilst being carried out of the country, the North Tongu MP alleged that Chinese authorities were not informed of her arrival and were told two days after she was left unattended in China.
“It has emerged that Aisha Huang was not escorted during her supposed deportation as international standard practice requires during such high profile deportations,” the opposition lawmaker said in a Facebook post on Monday, 12 September 2022.
Meanwhile, Oppong Nkrumah has clarified the President’s comments that he does not know whether Aisha Huang was actually deported from Ghana or not.
In a post on Twitter, he sought to clarify what Akufo-Addo actually meant.
“Prez @NAkufoAddo has never said he isn’t sure if Aisha Huang left Ghana. Please quote him well. He said he wasn’t sure whether she was deported or she fled. The reason for the President’s comment is that there is a difference between deportation and repatriation,” Oppong Nkrumah said.
He added: “While the Minister for Interior can deport, the Immigration Service cannot. The instrument which the Immigration Service uses in such circumstances is a repatriation notice. Either way, the effect was that she was caused to exit from Ghana at the material moment.”
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com