Political Analyst Kweku Adu-Gyamfi has accused Senior Advisor to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, of being a very selfish politician.
According to Adu-Gyamfi, Osafo-Maafo, in all the positions he has held in government throughout his political career, has been engaging in deals that benefit him at the state’s expense.
Adu-Gyamfi, who was berating Osafo Maafo for his alleged involvement in the deportation of illegal mining (‘galamsey’) ‘queen’, Aisha Huang, alleged that the advisor to the president supported the move because he had something to gain.
“Has he (Osafo-Maafo) taught of Ghana’s interest before? Have you heard Osafo Maafo ever speaking in Ghana’s interest? He always speaks of what will benefit him.
“This (galamsey) is a very serious matter, and the senior minister was defending someone who has been engaging in this canker that is destroying the country in the name of diplomacy. You can not defend crime in the name of diplomacy,” he said in Twi in an XYZ interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
The political analyst also said that the right processes were not followed before the deportation of Aisha Huang.
It will be recalled that Aisha Huang gained notoriety as an illegal mining kingpin in 2017. She was, however, deported after her arrest in 2018, and the Office of the Attorney General discontinued the trial against her.
Justifying why the state had to deport the Chinese national, the former Senior Minister, Nana Yaw Osafo-Maafo, addressing some concerns of Ghanaians in the diaspora at a town hall meeting on April 18, 2019, revealed that, “Putting [Aisha Huang] in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your money problem. It is not going to make you happy or me happy.”
“We have a very good relationship with China. The main company that is helping develop the infrastructure system in Ghana is Sinohydro; it is a Chinese Company. It is the one that is going to help process our bauxite and provide about $2 billion to us. So, when there are these kinds of arrangements, there are other things behind the scenes. There are many other things beyond what we see in these matters, and everybody is wide awake. The most important thing is that we established regulations and we are protecting our environment. That is far more important than one Chinese woman who has been deported back to her country,” he explained further.
On Monday, September 5, 2022, the Accra Circuit Court 9, presided by Samuel Bright Acquah, remanded Aisha Huang into custody.
This was after Miss Huang, together with three other Chinese nationals, were brought before the court on charges including engaging in the sale and purchase of minerals without a license and mining without a license.
The court could not take into record the pleas of the four suspects because there was no interpreter to help translate proceedings for the Chinese nationals.
The accused persons were not represented by a lawyer. The court adjourned sitting on the case to Wednesday, September 14, 2022.
How she re-entered the country without detection till her recent arrest has been the major question on the minds of many Ghanaians.
Source: Ghanaweb