Well-known unlawful miner Aisha Huang was found guilty of operating without a permit and given a four and a half year prison sentence.
The accused was found guilty by the judge after weighing the arguments made by the prosecution and defense. On similar charges, the accused was previously released.
However, because the statute she was being charged under was from the previous legal system, which had a five-year maximum sentence, the judge could only impose a four-year sentence.
Aisha Huang was accused of being in the thick of affairs of galamsey, especially in the Ashanti Region.
She was deported from the country in 2018 after the A-G decided to discontinue her trial in which she was accused of engaging in small-scale mining without a licence.
However, she was said to have sneaked back into the country to allegedly engage in the same activities for which she was deported.
In October 2022, the A-G then decided to prosecute her for the alleged crimes before her deportation and new ones committed since her entry back into the country.
It is the case of the prosecution that Aisha had an illegal mining concession at Bepotenten in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region and also operated a mining support services company.
She had pleaded not guilty to undertaking a mining operation without a licence, facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation, the illegal employment of foreigners, and entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry.
But on May 3, this year, Aisha pleaded guilty to entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, 2000, Act 573.
That was after she entered a Plea Bargaining agreement with the State (office of the Attorney General).
