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Chinese national Aisha Huang, also known as En Huang, has been found guilty by the Accra High Court and is now facing four years and half in prison. This is because she was involved in illegal mining and entered Ghana when she was not allowed to after being deported in 2018. She must also pay a fine of GH₵48,000, equivalent to four thousand (4,000) penalty units.
Furthermore, the court has issued a deportation order against Aisha Huang, which will take effect upon the completion of her sentence in Ghana. However, social media, especially those on X (formerly Twitter), have chided the court for offering a lesser sentence to Asiah Huang. For instance, an X user, @brasilvaGH described the sentence as a “joke.”
Source: Ghanaian Times
In his tweet, he said, “Galamsey kingpin Aisha Huang has been jailed 4.5 years and fined ₵48k, shows Ghana is JOKING with the Galamsey fight. The same Aisha who was deported & returned with a different identity. A kingpin is jailed for 4.5 years. A Ghanaian will be jailed 10yrs for the same crime. Oman wei, tweaa.”
Similar sentiments have been expressed in traditional media as well.
Given this, DUBAWA chose to clarify why the illegal miner was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, while the law stipulates 15 to 25 years in prison when one is found guilty of committing such offence.
Background
In Nov. 2022, Aisha Huang faced legal charges for four actions. These were mining without a licence, helping others do the same, employing foreign workers illegally, and entering Ghana after being deported. This happened because she reportedly returned to Ghana in Oct. 2022, even though she had been deported in 2018. Before this, she was accused of illegal mining, especially in the Ashanti Region.
She was deported in 2018 after the Attorney-General chose not to continue her trial for mining without a licence. However, she was said to have sneaked back into Ghana to resume the same activities that led to her deportation. In response, the Attorney General, in a tweet on Sept. 6, 2022, called for the case and decided to prosecute Aisha Huang for her actions from 2015 to 2017 before her initial deportation in 2018.
Charges against Aisha Huang
The first charge against Aisha En Huang was “undertaking a mining operation without a licence contrary to section 99(2) (a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, Act 995.”
The second charge, “facilitating the participation of persons engaged in a mining operation contrary to section 99 (2) (a) & (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, Act 703 as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, (2019), Act 995.”
The third count, according to the charge sheet, was “illegal employment of foreign nationals contrary to section 24 of the Immigration Act, (2000), Act 573.”
The last charge is “entering Ghana while prohibited from re-entry contrary to section 20(4) of the Immigration Act, (2000), Act 573,” with the state contending that on 2nd Sept. 2022, En Huang Aisha was arrested in Kumasi and found to have re-entered Ghana when she knew she had been barred from entering Ghana.
The Law in place before Ashia Huang’s arrest
Currently, the Minerals and Mining Act 2019 (Act 995) states that “A person who buys or sells minerals without a licence or a valid authority granted under this act or any other enactment commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than ten thousand penalty units and not more than fifteen thousand penalty units, and to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years.”
This Act was assented to on Aug 19, 2019.
Now, with the Attorney General’s indication that the state had decided to prosecute Aisha Huang for her actions from 2015 to 2017, before her initial deportation in 2018, the mining law in place at that time of her arrest, which is from 2015 to 2017 was the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703). This Act imposes a maximum of 5 years jail term for engaging in illegal mining.
What does the Constitution say about imposing a penalty on a crime?
The constitution of Ghana in Article 19, clause six on page 33 of 1992, indicates that: “No penalty shall be imposed for a criminal offence that is severer in degree or description than the maximum penalty that could have been imposed for that offence at the time when it was committed.”
This explains that the penalty expected to be meted out to an offender of the law should not exceed the maximum punishment legally allowed for the specific offence when it occurred. In other words, the punishment should be in accordance with the laws and regulations that were in place when the crime was committed.
In view of this, the mining laws during Aisha Huang’s arrest in 2015-2017 was the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) which imposes a maximum of 5 years jail term for engaging in illegal mining.
Due to this, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, the judge who sentenced Aisha Huang to a 5-year jail term, was forced to use the old mining law instead of the new law, which sentences offenders to 15 years and not more than 25 years.
Conclusion
The 4.5-year jail term given to Aisha Huang is just. This is because as stipulated in the constitution of Ghana, specifically in Article 19, clause 6, when one engages in an offence today, a severe punishment cannot be imposed on the offender than the maximum sentence ought to have been imposed onto you at the time of engaging in that offence. Given this, since Aisha Huang was arrested for engaging in illegal mining in 2015, the penalty she could have got was a maximum of five years. So, the court cannot say it is imposing a maximum penalty because there is a new law that sets a 15-year or 25-year jail term.
