Ranking Member on the Defense and Interior Committee in Parliament, James Agalga, has said President Akufo-Addo’s comment on Aisha Huang’s departure from Ghana in 2018 has left him confused.

According to him, he personally saw a deportation notice on Aisha Huang in 2018.

President Akufo-Addo speaking on a Ho-based radio station, as part of his tour of the Volta Region, said he is not sure about the earlier deportation of Aisha Huang from Ghana.

“I’m not still sure whether she was in fact deported. Or whether she fled the country the first time and has now come back. There still seems to be some uncertainty about it.

“But whichever way it is, she’s become the sort of nickname for all that galamsey represents”, the President said.

Reacting to the President’s comment, James Agalga said a briefing to the Defense and Interior Committee in Parliament back in 2018 indicated that a deportation order for Aisha Huang was signed by the then Interior Minister and carried through by the Immigration Service.

The Builsa North MP, therefore noted that he has been “left in a total state of confusion” by the President’s comment regarding the deportation of Aisha Huang.

“What we know is that the Minister responsible for Interior signed a deportation order which was carried through by the Comptroller General of the Ghana Immigration Service. I have personally sighted a document signed by the Interior Minister.

“If the President, the man responsible for the overall security of our country is now casting doubt on the validity of the deportation order I have seen then of course I will tell you for a fact that I am left in a state of confusion,” he said on Joy News’ The Pulse, Tuesday.

However, since the comment by the President which has been described, among others, as a “mockery” of the security architecture, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has clarified the President’s comment.

In an interview on Newsnight on Joy FM, Tuesday, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said the President’s comment was a direct response to the particular question he was asked.

“The President was not speaking in a vacuum. There was a question about deportation and the President proceeded to respond that he is not too sure whether it is about deportation or whether she fled but then the substantive thing is this and then he proceeded to provide the substantive answer.

“I have heard several commentators suggest that there should have been more clarity in the President’s words etc. I mean in a democracy I am sure that we can always raise questions about the choice of words,” he explained on Tuesday.