The lawmaker recounted this ordeal while contributing to a panel discussion on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana on September 14.
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I was sacked from seat 3 weeks ago at Kumasi pub for Chinese people to sit - NPP MP
The Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins AdomakoMensah, has shared an embarrassing encounter at a Kumasi-based pub where he was removed from a seat which was given to Chinese clients.
Collins AdomakoMensah
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According to him, the impact of illegal mining in Ghana goes beyond just the destruction it causes to water bodies, farmlands and the environment, hence the need to broaden the discussion.
"Three weeks ago, I was in Kumasi and myself and some few friends decided to go to a pub to have a drink. 10 minutes after we sat looking through the menu, one of the gentlemen approached us and said we have to get up from where we are seated and move to another place.
"I said if it's about cost, we are prepared to take care of it. He said 'no, you have to move and sit somewhere else.' They know [I am an MP). After a little argument, I decided to just move because it was creating a scene.
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"Ten minutes after we moved, some Chinese guys entered and they were treated with all the courtesies,” AdomakoMensahrecalled, lamenting: “This galamsey thing, it has gone beyond a definition about repatriation and deportation. It is about our dignity now. It is about our sovereignty. It is getting totally out of hand.”
The MP went further to condemn how the incumbent government and its officials have trivialized the discussions about ‘galamsey’, playing semantics with whether Aisha Huang was deported, repatriated or fled the country.
"And you listen to radio and the argument is about a woman [Aisha Huang). A woman who has eluded governments -a whole machinery. Let's situate the argument well.
"It is not about definition of deportation or repatriation. It is a serious matter. I am a Member of Parliament, I was sacked from a seat just to allow Chinese people to sit," he cautioned.
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In 2018, the then Senior Minister, Yaw Osarfo Marfo, announced to Ghanaians that Aisha Huang had been deported after her arrest in relation to her involvement in illegal mining, just to save Ghana-China bilateral relations, among other things.
Then, speaking in an interview with a Volta region-based radio station on Monday, September 12, President Akufo-Addo said he was not sure if Aisha was deported in 2018 in the first place.
His comment followed the re-arrest of the ‘galamsey’ kingpin for re-entry into Ghana to resume the illegal mining and its related activities.
After the President’s comment, his Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, came to counter it, saying the woman was repatriated and not deported. He even provided details of her repatriation.
As if that was not confusing enough, the Attorney-General told the Accra Circuit Court, where Aisha and other accused persons appeared on Wednesday, September 14, that Aisha had fled from the country in 2018 and averted prosecution.
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The contradicting accounts from the President down to his appointees have created a credibility deficit for the government, with various analysts calling for heads to roll.
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