The Afigya Kwabre North Member of Parliament (MP) says he was treated unfairly at a pub in Kumasi at the expense of some Chinese illegal miners.
Collins Adomako-Mensah recounted that he was going to have a drink with a few friends when the incident happened.
Although he did not mention the name of the facility, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP and his friends were, according to him, asked to vacate their seats for the Chinese galamseyers.
Mr Adomako-Mensah said in a media interview on Wednesday, September 14 that he had to oblige to avoid the embarrassing scene the incident was creating.
He added that despite the knowledge of the operators that he was an MP, they chose to offer all the courtesies to the Chinese nationals for reasons best known to them.
“Three weeks ago, I was in Kumasi and myself and some few friends decided to go to a pub to have a drink. 10 minutes after we sat looking through the menu, one of the gentlemen approached us and said we have to get up from where we are seated and move to another place.
“I said if it’s about cost, we are prepared to take care of it. He said ‘no, you have to move and sit somewhere else.’ They know [I am an MP]. After a little argument, I decided to just move because it was creating a scene.
Ten minutes after we moved, some Chinese guys entered and they were treated with all the courtesies. This galamsey thing, it has gone beyond a definition about repatriation and deportation. It is about our dignity now. It is about our sovereignty. It is getting totally out of hand,” he narrated on Accra-based Metro TV.
The matter of illegal small scale mining has become topical in the country following the re-arrest of the Chinese galamsey queen, Aisha Huang, a situation that has been a subject of controversy.
President Akufo-Addo has cause to doubt if she was indeed deported from the country.
However, the Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has clarified that the notorious Chinese illegal miner was repatriated from Ghana in December 2018 and not deported.
He further insisted on Joy FM on Tuesday, September 13, that a repatriation order or note was issued to this effect.
But the prosecution said the accused sneaked out of the country after her initial arrest.
Aisha Huang, according to the D/Inspr Eric Osei-Mensah, then re-entered in a similar fashion this year.
This was after she changed the details on her Chinese passport to aid her to evade the authorities.
“The 1st accused again resumed the small scale mining activities without a license and together with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused persons engaged in the purchase and sale of minerals in Accra without valid authority granted as required by the Minerals and Mining Act,” portions of the charge fact sheet read.
