Major rivers in Ghana are being polluted daily from activities of illegal gold mining.
In Ghana’s Western Region, the major rivers that have been polluted include the River Pra, Daboase,and River Ankobra. In the Eastern Region, the Birim River has also been polluted.
Residents who depend on these river bodies for their survivor continue to cry for help and the Ghanaian Government has at least showed some efforts of helping address the pollution through a crackdown on illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
Who are involved in illegal mining in Ghana?
Arguably at the forefront of the wanton illegal mining activities in Ghana are the Chinese and other foreign nationals including citizens of Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Ghanaians are also involved in illegal mining of gold across their country.
But, details are beginning to emerge about how Chinese, especially Chinese women, are using sex videos to blackmail top Ghanaian officials who are placed strategically to protect their country.
As recently reported by African Entertainment, a Chinese national, Aisha Huang, who is popularly known in Ghana as Galamsey Queen, was re-arrested following her deportation and subsequent illegal return to Ghana to allegedly engage in illegal mining. Galamsey in Ghana means illegal mining of gold.
Few years ago, the ruling New Patriotic Party Government deported Ms. Huang after she had been arrested for engaging in galamsey-related activities. Her deportation sparked public uproar as Ghanaians believed she should have been tried in Ghana and dealt with appropriately in accordance with the laws of Ghana. But the Government, including former Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Mafo, argued back then that deporting Ms. Huang was the right thing to do.
Now in 2022, Ms. Huang is back in the news in Ghana for the same reasons she was deported. This time round, she allegedly entered Ghana illegally. African Entertainment understands that she succeeded in changing her name in China, and traveled from her country to Togo before crossing over to Ghana to once again conduct her galamsey business.
How Powerful is Aisha Huang?
Ms. Huang, like other alleged Chinese illegal miners, is seen as a powerful woman who controls Ghanaian authorities. She is said to have always succeeded in bulldozing her way through, and on three occasions that she has been arrested in the past, she has used her influence to be freed.
It would be recalled that Ghana renewed its first against galamsey in 2017 after incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo assumed power on January 7, that year. The fight has somewhat been ongoing.
During the heat of the fight against illegal mining between 2017 and 2021, hundreds of Chinese illegal miners were arrested for their involvement in illegal mining.
But the Ghana Prisons Service in its recent statistics provided to the media, showed that as of July 2021, only two Chinese nationals were in Ghana’s prisons.
Sex videos, blackmail
And it seems one reason why Ms. Huang and other Chinese nationals involved in the illegal mining activities appear untouchable, is because they possess sex videos of powerful Ghanaian officials.
A renowned Ghanaian journalist and political commentator, Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako Jnr, said over the weekend that Ms. Huang was in possession of sex videos involving “big men”. He did not mention names of the “Big men” nor their positions in Government.
The veteran journalist alleged in his contribution on the Joy NewsFile programme monitored by www.africanentertainment.com that Ms. Huang was using the sex videos to blackmail the said “Big men.”
He confirmed how Ms. Huang had been detained three times in the past, particularly during the former President John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government.
According to him, “This particular Chinese woman, I have it on record, was arrested three times during the previous administration, three times she was released, a very powerful woman who operates more within the Ashanti Region, especially Kumasi.”
He went on to say “She’s got connections, from my checks, also in this administration. She appears to be a very smooth operative. She’s built a network across the political divide, her agents placed in state institutions; and she’s able to riggle herself out of danger or trouble anytime she’s touched.”
While referring to her current trial and fears that she might once again be freed, he says “I hope it doesn’t happen this time around.”
He added that “…And she’s got accomplices ㅡ the other one is called Monica, they’re powerful. Part of their strength is that they resorted to a certain system of blackmailing. Look, they have video and audio recordings of powerful people, people who have been entrusted with responsibilities to protect us as a people. That’s how dangerous the game is. That’s where the strength of these powerful women is coming from.”
According to him, “They have videos and audio recordings of conversations with some strategically placed persons from then and now; and some they are having sex with. They have girls, mainly Chinese whom they brought into town to sleep with these big men or big guys well-placed; and they use it to blackmail them into submission, that’s how powerful they are.”
Mr. Baako claimed how some Chinese citizens have succeeded in placing their agents in key positions in Ghana, especially in the West African nation’s security agencies.
According to him, “Part of their strength is that they built up a certain system of blackmailing. They are women so I’m not going to use certain words and I’m not going to say certain things as to when they came into town, what they began to do, but they had nothing to do with galamsey. Gradually, they moved from that particular trade into galamsey.”
Watch Kwaku Baako Jnr speaking below:
Trial resumes on September 14
Ms. Huang is due to reappear in court on September 14, this year. She is standing trial with three other Chinese nationals for alleged illegal mining activities in Ghana.
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