President Akufo-Addo is receiving backlash for reportedly saying he's not sure whether or not 'galamsey queen' Aisha Haung was deported.

Speaking in an interview on a Ho-based radio station on Monday, as part of his tour of the Volta Region, President Akufo-Addo said: “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”.

“We have concerted to work at it. We need to have the cooperation of the courts. Until recently when I came, the punishment for people caught was relatively light. [But] we’ve changed the law to stiffen the punishment for people caught,” he added.

Responding to the critics, Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the President was misrepresented.

In a tweet, he wrote: 

Prez @NAkufoAddo has never said he isn't sure if Aisha Huang left Ghana. Please quote him well. He said he wasn't sure whether she was deported or she fled.

The reason for the President's comment is that there is a difference between deportation and repatriation.

— Kojo Oppong Nkrumah (@konkrumah) September 13, 2022

In an interview on Newsnight on Joy FM, Tuesday, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi said 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 clarified on Tuesday.