A Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker has commended the security agencies for arresting the Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Huang who re-entered the country without permission after being deported.

He assured the public that the security officers are on top of this matter.

Speaking to the media in Accra on Friday, Mr Duker expressed optimism that the judiciary will handle this matter as expected.

“She has been arrested, I commend the security agencies for that. Let’s leave the matter for the security agencies to do their own work. I believe the judiciary will also handle it accordingly,” he said.

Observers have expressed concerns over the nature of Ghana’s security following the re-entry of Aisha Huang.

For instance, a former Governance Adviser to the United Nations Mission in Liberia, Professor Baffour Agyeman-Duah, said the way and manner she returned to Ghana after her deportation, exposed the lapses in Ghana’s security as far as foreign criminals as are concerned.

In his view, the security system is porous, a situation he said, calls for concerns.

Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3, Thursday September 8, the Chief Executive Officer of the John Agyekum Kuffuor Foundation said “The current case of Aisha Huang, so-called Queen of galamsey, is a very interesting, complex and intriguing one.

“Because about four or five years ago when we heard that she was arrested and she was going to be tried, somehow senior government officials intervened and publicly told all of us that perhaps, it wasn’t in the the best interest of Ghana to imprison or try this person and subsequently she was deported.

“Then all of a sudden, we find that this lady who was deported has been back for massive long years on a different kind of name and trading. It shows the porousness of our security system. Whether in this particular cases, it is a deliberate policy to allow her in, whatever it is it shows the serious lapse in our security sector so far as foreign criminals are are concerned.”

On this same matter, the Dean of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, also said Ghana needs to scale up its intelligence gathering.

Dr Antwi-Danso said the country needs to “revolutionalize our intelligence system including vigilance and everything”.

“She has studied the system so she knows our weaknesses which is why she re-entered,” the International Relations Expert stated on 3FM’s Sunrise show with Alfred Ocansey on Thursday September 8.

Earlier, Dr Antwi-Danso indicated that Aisah Huang disrespected Ghana by her re-entry.

He said Ghanaian authorities must send a clear signal to all foreigners to respect the laws of the land.

[Her re-entry] shows disrespect for us as Ghanaians and for our country. When you are deported, you are declared persona non grata, you are not wanted until you are invited into the country.

“She treated us with this kind of disdain, we should let all foreigners know that we are a country to be respected,” he told Alfred Ocansey on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday September 6.

“She treated us with this kind of disdain, we should let all foreigners to know that we are a country to be respected,” he added.

On Monday September 5, an Accra Circuit Court remanded into custody 4 Chinese nationals for their alleged involvement in illegal small-scale mining activities.

Hearing the case Monday September 5, three suspects, Jong Li Huang, Huang Jei and Huiad Hua pleaded not guilty in court to a charge of engaging in sales and purchases of minerals without license.

Aisha Huang who was deported following her involvement in galamsey activities is facing charges of engaging in sale and purchases of minerals without license, as well as mining without license.

She is reported to have returned to the country under a different name. She reportedly applied for a Togo Visa and went through the borders into Ghana to continue her galamsey business in a town in the Ashanti Region.