Comments made by Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, in relation to the arrest of ‘galamsey’ kingpin Aisha Huang together with three other Chinese nationals in 2017 have resurfaced following her re-arrest.
The veteran journalist who was contributing to a panel discussion on NewsFile, a Joy News programme, in May 2017 opined that Aisha Huang and her other Chinese cohorts have created a network which has made them powerful and untouchable in Ghana.
According to him, the Chinese nationals have managed to place their agents in key positions in the country particularly the security agencies.
He mentioned that Aisha Huang and her other Chinese women have established connections with persons across the political divide and have employed the use of blackmail to get out of trouble.
Kweku Baako was commenting on the arrest of four Chinese workers by officers of the immigration service on a galamsey concession at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central district.
“Now you talk of a certain Chinese woman. We’ve heard four Chinese have been arrested and I’m told there’s a Chinese woman also involved or something [and] the lady’s name is Aisha as well. I have it on record [that she] was arrested three times during the previous administration, three times she was released.
“She is a very powerful woman, operates more within the Ashanti region, especially Kumasi. She’s got connections from my own checks also in this administration. She appears to be a smooth operative. She’s built a network across the political divide.
“She’s got her agents placed in state institutions particularly the security agencies and she’s able to wriggle herself out of danger or trouble anytime she is touched. I hope it doesn’t happen this time round,” he said.
The veteran journalist added that the Chinese nationals were not engaged in galamsey activities when they came to the country but gradually began drifting towards that sector.
He said they have since been using recordings obtained from their sexual escapades with top officials to keep the officials under their thumb.
“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, who were they, what were they had nothing to do with galamsey. Gradually, they moved from that particular trade into galamsey.
“They have video and audio recordings of people who are powerful, of people who have been entrusted with responsibilities to protect us as a people. I’m telling you. That’s how dangerous the game is and that is where the strength, the power of these Chinese women are coming from,” Kweku Baako said.
Background
Aisha Huang was recently arrested for engaging in galamsey-relatd activities. She is reported to have entered the country via the Togo boarder after her deportation.
She has since been remanded and is set to make a court appearance with three others on September 14.