The National Identification Authority (NIA) has responded to reports about the possession of a Ghana card by Aisha Huang, a Chinese national tagged as a “galamsey queen or kinpin” by Ghanaians.

NIA in a statement explained that it does not have the name Aisha Huang captured in its database.

“The National Identity Register (NIR) compiled by NIA does not contain any record of a person named Aisha Huang. Put differently, the name Aisha Huang does not exist in the National Identification System (NIS) database,” NIA said in the statement.

It emerged that, Aisha Huang in the wake of her re-arrest over illegal mining activities in the country despite her deportation was found to be in possession of a Ghana Card bearing the name Huang En.

Explaining the viral Ghana card image suggesting that the galamsey kingpin has been given the Ghana card, the authority said that the particular registration was done in 2014 with the name Huang En and was renewed in 2016 and 2018 in Kumasi.

It said a Chinese national tried to register a new non-resident Ghana card in August 2022 with the name Ruixia Huang, but its system flagged it because the biometric details matched that of Huang En.

Since she could not provide proper details to authenticate her new identity, NIA in the statement said: “Huang En opted to renew with the old details and then go through the affidavit and gazette process later, after which she would then provide the documents for the update to be done. Her renewed Non-Citizen Ghana Card was then issued to her on 25th August 2022, bearing the old name. This card is what is now impugned and trending on social media.”

“It must be emphasized that possession of the Non-Citizen Ghana Card does not confer or amount to having Ghanaian citizenship,” NIA clarified.