The High Court in Accra is expected to begin the trial of galamsey ‘kingpin’ Aisha Huang today, November 9, 2022.
This comes after prosecution complied with the filing of all disclosure documents and witness statements they intend to rely on.
The Chinese galamsey queen has pleaded not guilty to four charges including re-entering Ghana without a permit from the Ghana Immigration Service.
The Court at the last hearing on October 24, 2022, reaffirmed its stance not to grant bail to En Huan, aka Aisha Huang.
At least 11 witnesses will mount the box in the High Court case with the first of them billed to take the stand as the state opens its case today.
Aisha Huang is facing concurrent criminal charges at the High Court despite the trial ongoing at the Circuit Court.
Brief facts
The brief facts of the case as narrated to the Court by Detective Chief Inspector Frederick Sarpong were that the Complainants in the case are Security and Intelligence officers based in Accra.
He said all the accused are Chinese nationals who have gained notoriety for engaging in a series of small-scale mining activities known as ‘galamsey’ across the country.
The prosecutor said, during the year 2017, the 1st Accused (Aisha Huang) was arrested for similar offence but managed to sneak out of the country averting prosecution.
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Detective Chief Inspector Sarpong said during the early part of 2022, the 1st Accused sneaked back into the country after having changed the details on her Chinese passport.
The Prosecutor said the 1st Accused again resumed small-scale mining activities without license and together with 2nd, 3rd and 4th Accused persons engaged in the sale and the purchase in Accra without valid authority granted as required by the Minerals and Mining Act.
He stated that the 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused persons are also into the sale of equipment used in illegal mining activities.
They were subsequently arrested upon Intelligence while further investigations commenced.