Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has observed a close relationship between illegal small-scale mining kingpin, Aisha Huang and lawyers belonging to the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP.
Ablakwa, while commenting on the recent disclosure that four accomplices standing trial with Ms. Huang in a case before the Accra Circuit Court, were represented by immediate past NPP National Chairman, Freddie Blay; said he wasn’t in the least surprised.
He revealed that as far back as 2017, when Huang got entangled in legal issues, her first two lawyers were affiliated with the NPP but the government pushed for a change in lawyers for Huang.
“After her first arrest, Aisha Huang’s earlier lawyers of choice were Mr. Bernard Owiredu Donkor and Mr. Ellis Owusu-Fordwouh,” Ablakwa said in a post dated October 12.
The former he noted went on to become the NPP’s Parliamentary Candidate for Akwatia in the 2020 General Elections.
Aisha Huang’s current lawyer is a former Berekum MP, Nkrabeah Effah Dartey, who has been her representative since 2018.
It emerged only yesterday that Freddie Blay was the main lawyer for Huang’s four co-accused in a case related to galamsey.
Lucy Ekeleba Blay, a private legal practitioner, said she was holding brief for Freddie Blay in the case of the four accomplices in the persons of Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng.
The plea of three of the accused persons has been taken with that of the last deferred due to the unavailability of a Vietnamese translator.
Meanwhile, Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General, indicated to the court the state’s readiness to expeditiously dispose of the case and will be willing to try the case on a day-after-day basis.
He observed that the judge superintending over the case has “also indicated his inclination to conduct the case in that manner.”
“In respect of Aisha Huang, we have filed most of the documents to be relied on, we have filed witness statements of four witnesses. We only need to fill about four more,” Dame added.
Source: Ghanaweb