Aisha Huang: NIA provides clarification on ‘trending’ Ghana Card

After the arrest of Chinese galamsey kingpin, Aisha Huang, on Monday, September 5, 2022, it emerged that she is a Ghana Card holder, having acquired the ID from the National Identification Authority in February 2022.

Aisha Huang had evaded immigration authorities and re-entered Ghana to conduct illegal business despite her controversial deportation in 2018.

Media reports suggested that Ms Huang despite last leaving by air, returned to Ghana via the eastern land border i.e. Togo.

Whilst the report is silent on when she first reentered and how many times she has been in and out of the jurisdiction, it turned out that she also used a different name on her return.

It has been established with evidence that upon her return, Huang applied for and obtained the Ghana Card with the identity of “Huang En.”

But NIA has denied registering any applicant by the name of Aisha Huang. According to the NIA, its National Identity Register (NIR) does not contain any record of a person named AISHA HUANG.

“Put differently, the name AISHA HUANG does not exist in the National Identification System (NIS) database”, the NIA said in a statement dated September 6, 2022.

Explaining the viral Ghana Card suggesting that the galamsey kingpin has been given the Ghana card, the authority said that the particular registration was done in 2014 with the name Huang En and was renewed in 2016 and 2018 in Kumasi.

It said a Chinese national tried to register a new non-resident Ghana Card in August 2022 with the name Ruixia Huang, but its system flagged it because the biometric details matched that of Huang En.

Since she could not provide proper details to authenticate her new identity, NIA in the statement said:

“Huang En opted to renew with the old details and then go through the affidavit and gazette process later, after which she would then provide the documents for the update to be done. Her renewed Non-Citizen Ghana Card was then issued to her on 25th August 2022, bearing the old name. This card is what is now impugned and trending on social media.”

Source: Ghanaweb