Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOsafo Maafo\u2019s antidote to Ghana\u2019s struggling economy, when he suggested that freeing \u2018galamsey queen\u2019 Aisha Huang has had a positive economic impact on the country continues to irk \u201cright minded Ghanaians\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Chinese national was standing trial for engaging in illegal small-scale mining which could have ended her 20 years in jail under Section 99 (3) of Act 900. Whiles the criminal trial was progressing, government shocked many when it discontinued the case and deported Aisha Huang and her accomplices in 2018.<\/p>\n
This was in the heat of government\u2019s unrelenting fight against illegal mining in Ghana, and the Senior Minister, Osafo Maafo\u2019s justification has rather unruffled feathers.<\/p>\n
Mr. Osafo Maafo defended the deportation at a recent event in the United States of America. \u201cPutting that lady (Aisha) in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems. It is not going to make you happy or me happy, that\u2019s not important, the most important thing is that she has been deported out of Ghana,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some suspect the galamsey kingpin who has a network of Chinese illegal miners in Ghana, was deported in exchange for the 2 billion Sinohydro loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is rather unfortunate\u2026 sad times in our fight against illegal mining\u201d Brigadier General Daniel Mishio, former head of Anti-Galamsey Taskforce analysed.<\/p>\n
He told Abena Tabi on TV3\u2019s news analysis show, The Key Points, Saturday that the minister has rather communicated a \u201cwrong signal\u201d to persons engaging in illegal mining.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe that is the best solution to our problem,\u201d he said, noting that as far back as 2013, Ghana was losing 500 million dollars a year through illegal mining \u201cso if we are serious we could be saving money\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo are we going to free foreigners and jail our nationals because we are getting money?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n
Co-panelist Emmanuel Yirenkyi Antwi, Operations Director of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Mining, concurred that what the minister said was \u201cvery unfortunate\u201d.<\/p>\n
In his view, the state should have invested in resources to prosecute the case to show the seriousness it attaches to the fight against illegal mining.<\/p>\n
He noted that prosecuting Aisha would have also exposed those connected to her network and break their camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity that Ghana has missed\u201d, he observed, \u201cOur laws must work, we can\u2019t treat foreigners differently because of the money coming in\u201d.<\/p>\n
For Bobby Benson, a private legal practitioner, \u201cevery right minded Ghanaian will condemn\u201d Osafo Maafo\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
He finds it difficult connecting the deportation with the Sinohydro deal since the loan was contracted rather later after Aisha\u2019s case.<\/p>\n
He also recalled claims by the Chinese ambassador to Ghana that they were not aware about her deportation, clearly delinking the deportation from the loan.<\/p>\n
Already, many feel the government\u2019s fight against illegal mining has not been successful. Thinking along that line, Bobby Benson is certain Aisha will still control the network from China.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have missed a huge opportunity, Ghanaian leaders should be ashamed\u2026.Osafo Maafo should apologise,\u201d he asserted, \u201cthe statement undermines the effort of the galamsey taskforce\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u0642\u0627\u0644\u0628 \u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"General News of Saturday, 20 April 2019 Source: 3news.com 2019-04-20 Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo Osafo Maafo\u2019s antidote to Ghana\u2019s struggling economy, when he suggested that freeing \u2018galamsey queen\u2019 Aisha Huang has had a positive economic impact on the country continues to irk \u201cright minded Ghanaians\u201d. The Chinese national was standing trial for engaging in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":603520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Osafo Maafo is hot; roasted nonstop over 'Galamsey queen' comments - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/20\/osafo-maafo-is-hot-roasted-nonstop-over-galamsey-queen-comments\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Osafo Maafo is hot; roasted nonstop over 'Galamsey queen' comments - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"General News of Saturday, 20 April 2019 Source: 3news.com 2019-04-20 Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo Osafo Maafo\u2019s antidote to Ghana\u2019s struggling economy, when he suggested that freeing \u2018galamsey queen\u2019 Aisha Huang has had a positive economic impact on the country continues to irk \u201cright minded Ghanaians\u201d. 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![\"Osafo](\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanamma.com\/2019\/03\/51129276.295.jpg\" "\\"Osafo")
Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n