I deported 5000 Chinese – Mahama shows Akufo-Addo how it is done
The same punitive action meted out to a Ghanaian who flouts the law must be applied to the Chinese who flouts the law as Ghanaians in China will not be spared if they fail to obey the rules, former president John Mahama has noted.
He revealed during an interview on TV3 that there was a time he had to get about 5000 Chinese illegal miners deported and they cooperated with the Chinese Embassy who brought in Boeing 747 to airlift its citizens back to their country.
According to him, this decision did not affect the relationship between Ghana and China.
“When I was president, we valued the relations with China but if you are a Ghanaian and you go to China and you engage in illegality, they don’t say because of the good relation they have with Ghana, they are going to let you go scot-free.
“You are going to face the full rigours of the law in China and I don’t doubt that there are some of our citizens in jail in China.”
He pointed out that he was faced with the same illegal mining situation but was not perturbed by the relationship Ghana had with China so he still deported the Chinese.
Former president Mahama cited this to make reference to the Aisha Huang’s situation Ghana is confronted with right now. She is currently standing trial in court over her notorious constant illegal mining activities.
Upon her initial arrest in 2018 she was deported instead of being made to face the full rigours of the law here. This was on the grounds that Ghana needs to protect its relationship with China and that got most Ghanaians infuriated as they questioned the government’s commitment to the fight against illegal mining.
This discussion came up again after she sneaked into the country though she was deported and has been apprehended again.
