Aisha Huang paid me GH¢24,400 for my three-acre farmland and mined – Witness

A resident farmer of Aboabo Domenase, in the Central Region says En Huang aka Aisha Huang, the alleged “galamsey queen” paid him GH¢24,400 for his three-acre land and mined on it.

Albert Appiah, a fourth prosecution witness, led in evidence by Director of Public prosecution Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, told an Accra High Court that in the year 2016, he had a three-acre palm plantation at Asuogya Nwomaso, near Bepotenten.

Appiah said: “The accused person (Aisha) paid me an outright amount of GH¢24,400 for my three-acre farmland without issuing a receipt.”

The fourth witness in his evidence in chief, said the only water body around his farm known as Nkyingo river, was in a deplorable state due to the mining activities of the accused person and her workers.

“On several occasions, while working on my farm, I collected bottled water from the accused person at her mining site near my farm. Aisha conducted mining operations at Bepotenten. She even mined on my farmland,” the witness told the court.

He said Aisha Huang together with her Chinese and Ghanaian mining workers came to his farmland to take measurements.

The witness told the court that the accused person whom he knew personally, was holding the machine with which the measurements were taken.

According to the witness, it was late in the day and as such they could not negotiate the price for the farmland, so he proposed that they met at Aisha’s Mining site the following day.

“I went to my farm the following day and realised that the accused person and her workers had uprooted and destroyed a section of my oil palm plantation when the sale price has not been agreed on. This development infuriated me, and I confronted the foreman of the accused person.”

The witness told the court that he teamed up with another farmer, Kwabena Mensah Nkegbe, who had also not been paid for the destruction of his farm to go to Kumasi to meet Aisha to negotiate for the payment of our farmlands.

“We were led by one James Ogbey and the foreman of the accused person, to Kumasi, Ahodwo to meet the accused person. I was accompanied by my elder brother Kofi Anane.”

The fourth prosecution witness told the court on arriving at Kumasi they met Aisha at her office at Ahodwo.

The witness said, “I personally demanded GH¢15,000 per acre for my farmland because she destroyed my farm when negotiations had not been finalized.”

He said Aisha did not accept his proposal but “we finally agreed on little over GH¢8,000 per acre.

Appiah recounted that in the year 2017 officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Obuasi office contacted him on the account that they were investigating Aisha for the offence of illegal mining.

The witness said he and one Kweku Manu gave their respective statements to the officials of the GIS.

Answering questions under cross-examination by Hope Agboado, one of the lawyers for Aisha, the witness admitted that he did not write his own statement.

According to him, the officials of GIS recorded his statement.

The witness admitted, knowing Volta Resource Limited, a company that had obtained a permit to conduct exploration at Bepotenten.

The case has been adjourned to December 1, for counsel to continue with his cross examination of the fourth prosecution witness.

En Huang is standing trial for engaging in illegal mining at Bepotenten.

She is also being held for re-entering Ghana though prohibited.

Aisha Huang has denied the charges and the court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei, has remanded her into lawful custody.

Source: GNA