Two Chinese and one Ghanaian are in court for undertaking a mining operation with a license.
The three have been identified as Li Wei Guo, Shi Mei Zhi, and Nana Kwame Opoku known as Obolo.
The two Chinese accused persons have been charged with undertaking a mining operation without a license, contrary to section 99(2)(a) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
While third accused the Ghanaian has been charged with facilitating the participation of non-Ghanaians in an illegal mining operation contrary to section 99(5)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Act 995 of 2019.
The facts of the case are that on 14 September 2022, as part of investigations into the case of galamsey queen En Huang commonly known as Aisha Huang, personnel of the National Security in Kumasi, received information that the 1st and 2nd accused people were engaged in illegal mining activities, so they commenced investigations into their activities.
As a result, these Officers arrested the two Chinese accused persons together with the Ghanaian from their residence at Paraku Estates near Daaban, Kumasi.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the 1st and 2nd accused persons are lovers, and the established that between 2017 and 2018, the 1st and 2nd accused persons were assisted by the 3rd accused a Ghanaian to procure land at Dunkwa Nwinso in the Eastern Region for illegal mining operations.
The two Chinese accused had residence permits issued by the Ghana Immigration Service but when the processes leading to the issuance of the permits were interrogated, it was found that the Work and Residence Permits were irregularly obtained.
