There was drama at the court complex in Kumasi when the Ghanaian wife of a convicted illegal Chinese immigrant stormed the venue with their children to plead for leniency.
Wen Shi Li, Huang Shen Jun, Li De Hao and Lan Hai Song had just been ordered by a Kumasi High Court, presided by His Lordship Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe to be deported for illegal residence, using fraudulent means to validate their residential status and working without the required permits.
As the convicts were being returned to the Kumasi Central Prisons, the Ghanaian mistress of Lan Hai Song appeared at the court premises with three children, including a 4-day old baby to plead for leniency for the convict.
“How would I and my children survive in the unlikely event of his deportation?
Ghanaians must come to my aid. Who will take care of me and the children,” she cried out.
The deportation comes at a time government has declared war on illegal mining in forest reserves and water bodies with the introduction of a military taskforce in a special exercise code-named “Operation Halt”.
The Chinese nationals and a Ghanaian collaborator, Asamoah Kati, were arrested after a Kumasi High Court, presided by His Lordship Justice Emmanuel Senyo Amedahe granted an absconding warrant. They were arrested whilst mining gold under the protection of armed guards on a 40-acre land of Obuasi-based Seidu Fanzia School.
Twenty seven year-old Rebecca Oforiwaa, who has been in a relationship with Lan Hai Song but married under the Customary Law in 2018 wailed uncontrollably upon learning of the court’s pronouncements.
She feared deportation of her husband, who has been the backbone of her family for several years, could spell doom for especially the kids.
Not even a plea from the police officer at the High Court One could persuade Oforiwaa to back down her action.
She wailed uncontrollably until an official from the court warned her of the consequence of her action which he says was disrupting court proceedings.
“He is a good man who takes care of me and my family.
He even catered for my SHS education.
I delivered this baby with fresh placenta just 4-days ago.
I plead with Ghanaians to be lenient with him because he is not a bad person,” she cried.
But Rebecca’s intervention appears to have come too late. The court found her husband and the three others guilty of violating sections 23(1) and 35(1, d) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573).
Her husband, Lan Hai Song who travelled to Ghana on Chinese Passport with number E00330545 and was granted a year resident/work permit, on October 23, 2014 has been in the country illegally after the expiration of the permit on October 23, 2015.
The court also found that the other convicts have lived in Ghana illegally since 2020.
“The four, being Shi Li Wen, Huang Shen Jun, Li De Hao and Lan Hai Song are by this order to be handed over to the Regional Commander of the Ashanti Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, Kumasi to effect their immediate deportation out of the Republic of Ghana.”
