ADVERTISEMENT

Osafo Marfo's revelations why Aisha Huang was let off the hook constitute treason - MP

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said Senior Minister, Yaw Osarfo Marfo justifying the decision not to prosecute a Chinese national who engaged in illegal mining constitutes "treason against our national interest".

Osarfo Marfo

He said "The Senior Minister's justification exposes Ghana's foreign policy considerations to ridicule and contempt in ways that even the most ardent apologist of the realist foreign policy paradigm will cringe."

Yaw Osafo Marfo said jailing the galamsey queen Aisha Huang wouldn't have solved Ghana's economic challenges.

Addressing a townhall meeting abroad, the Senior Minister said Ghana has great diplomatic relationship with China and intends to partner them in key infrastructural projects citing the $2 billion Sinohydro deal.

"Today, the main company that is helping develop the infrastructure system in Ghana is Sinohydro, it is a Chinese Company. It is the one that is going to help process our bauxite and provide about $2 billion to us," he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"So, when there are these kinds of arrangements, there are other things behind the scenes. Putting that lady [Aisha] in jail in Ghana is not going to solve your economic problems.

"It is not going to make you happy or me happy, that's not important, the most important thing is that she has been deported from Ghana..." he added.

 Aisha was arraigned before court on May 9, 2017, for engaging in galamsey activities at Bepotenten in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region.

But Okudzeto who doubles as the ranking member on the foreign affairs committee in Parliament said the "government has signaled to other nations that Ghana is ready to be exploited and raped. They are being told that in negotiating with Ghana all you need is to dangle."

ADVERTISEMENT

In a Facebook post, he wrote: "Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo's shocking revelation on why Chinese galamsey queen En Huang, also known as Aisha, was let off the hook by the Akufo-Addo Government constitutes ultimate treason against our national interest.

"The Senior Minister's justification exposes Ghana's foreign policy considerations to ridicule and contempt in ways that even the most ardent apologist of the realist foreign policy paradigm will cringe.

"Without debate, the Akufo-Addo Government has signaled to other nations that Ghana is ready to be exploited and raped. They are being told that in negotiating with Ghana all you need is to dangle a few carrots before our leaders and like the Biblical Esau they will be quick to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage.

"This open confession that we are ready to trade our sovereignty, our dignity, our laws, our lives, our environment, our resources for a promise of $2 billion - which by the way is not even a grant but a so-called barter arrangement in exchange of our own bauxite, is not only terribly offensive and self-defeating; it is also most likely to be counterproductive as countries who care about their image and credentials in the comity of nations will begin to shun any deal involving Ghana as they wouldn't want to be seen as exploiters or rogue nations. Indeed, on this score, I do not think the Chinese themselves would be enthused with the damage Osafo-Maafo's pronouncement does to their international image.

"For a Senior Minister who recently expressed concern about acts that paint Ghana black, this black paint he has produced is both in quantity and quality far more deplorable than all our polluted galamsey rivers put together.

ADVERTISEMENT

"In my candid opinion, Parliament must take a serious view of this revelation. We must necessarily probe all recent international agreements especially as we in the Minority and compatriots in Civil Society Organisations have had cause to raise alarm about numerous detrimental terms and conditions contained in these agreements. This is what would happen in other serious jurisdictions if a senior Cabinet Minister were to make such bombshell assertions and this is exactly what some of us will be pushing for when Parliament returns from recess.

"Aside that, the Senior Minister himself must be subjected to Parliamentary processes for further interrogation especially as he makes other claims in the now viral video that: "I am saying that there are many other things beyond what we see in these matters." Ghanaians deserve to know and must know what those hidden considerations are.

"I do hope the Parliament of Ghana would not wilfully derelict from its duty to the people we represent and the nation we serve on this crucial matter in issue.

"I shall now conclude by commending those who so far have done a great damage control job for the Akufo-Addo Government. We hear some of them say - "Osafo-Maafo must apologise." Others say - "Osafo-Maafo must resign."

ADVERTISEMENT

"The question is: would these same people have taken this posture if this had happened under President Mahama?

"If a Senior Minister had let the cat out of the bag in this manner, they would all have descended on the entire Government and put the blame fully at the doorstep of President Mahama.

"An impression is being created that there could be no truth or merit in what Osafo-Maafo has put out.

"Perhaps unknown to many, some of those angry with Osafo-Maafo are livid simply because he has in a raw fashion put out an uncomfortable truth.

"We all know Osafo-Maafo was not the Attorney General who filed the nolle prosequi. We all know the Attorney General who filed the nolle prosequi was not punished for doing that if truly it was an act President Akufo-Addo did not authorize or approve of.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Just as the Attorney General was not queried so will the Senior Minister not be reprimanded. It is the reason Government has so far not had the courage to contradict the Senior Minister.

"Osafo-Maafo has only conveyed President Akufo-Addo's exact thoughts on this affair. He has in the process been kind enough to give us an insider account of the thought processes and philosophy of Akufo-Addo's Administration beyond the public facade.

"It is for the Ghanaian people to now decide how we respond to this betrayal of our trust.

"Those who refuse to hide their hypocrisy should at least credit Ghanaians with some intelligence.

"I wish you all a happy Easter.

ADVERTISEMENT

"May God save Ghana".

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT