The seventh prosecution witness in the En Huang (Aisha Huang) case Mathew Kwabla Abotsi has asked the court to deploy a delegation to the communities where Aisha Huang used to carry out her mining activities to assess the rate of destruction.
This follows attempts by the lawyers of Aisha Huang to disprove his testimony.
Michael Abotsi who is an assembly member for Bepotenten testified of having seen Aisha Huang engage in illegal mining activities in his area and claimed the activities led to the destruction of water bodies.
He further testified that Aisha Huang’s activities extended to footpaths that led to the farms of the locals.
According to him, Aisha Huang created a new footpath for the locals when her attention was drawn to the situation but could not fix a dam-like pit that has been created on the footpath due to her activities.
In his witness statement, the Assembly member stated that Aisha Huang worked on a concession belonging to one Nana Kofi Prempeh.
He claimed that a caretaker of the concession, Edward Koranteng used to collect monies periodically from Aisha Huang and other investors working on the concession.
But during cross-examination, lawyers for Aisha Huang questioned the witness to the point that the destruction claimed was caused by the other persons working on the concession but not his client.
The witness however refuted this assertion emphasizing that the destruction was caused by Aisha Huang.
When lawyers of the accused probed further by saying that the witness has never met Aisha Huang who promised to fix the destroyed path and the pit created on the path, the assembly member insisted on his testimony assuring the court that he has no intentions to deceive the court.
He pleaded with the judge to send a delegation to his community to assess these claims considering the posture of the lawyers of Aisha Huang.
The case continues on Tuesday with the prosecution expected to call its eighth witness.
Source- Citinewsroom
