Private legal practitioner, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw has stated the former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party(NPP), Freddie Blay defending the four accomplices of galamsey queen, Aisha Huang will put a dint on the party.
His comment comes after Freddie Blay joined Lawyer Nkrabeah Effah Dartey to defend Aisha Huang and her accomplices .The four accomplices; Gao Jin Cheng, Lu Qi Jun, Haibin Go and Zhang Zhipeng together with the ‘galamsey’ queen, Aisha Huang are being held by the state for their involvement in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Speaking in an interview with Kwaku Dawuro on Movement In The Morning Show, Lawyer Ampaw stated that on legal and moral grounds, Freddie Blay is not wrong defending Aisha Huang, however in the court of public opinion it is not accepted as it has serious political implication on the party.
He said that ‘’It is morally and legally right to defend Aisha Huang because a lawyer cannot discriminate when it comes to taking up cases. If that happens, it amounts to violation of the constitution of Ghana and your oat. If the case you pick up does not conflict with your interest and your legal duty, you are good to go. Regardless, you must consider who you are, where you are coming from or the people you are associated with. Giving the fact that these two lawyers are gurus of the party, and that the case has a high public interest and involves someone who has gone contrary to government’s fight against galamsey, makes it wrong defending”.
”How can Freddie Blay and lawyer Effah lower themselves for money against their commitment and love for their party?”, Lawyer Ampaw queried.
”The perception out there is that your government is supporting Aisha Huang’s case and even President Akufo-Addo has been labeled as a galamseyer, and with all these things going on, I don’t expect a lawyer who is affiliated to the party to defend the culprit in court”,he added.
”They should leave it for the other lawyers because it has a serious political implication for his party. Aisha Huang’s team are aware going for a lawyer in the opposition party will make situations worse, so they went for someone who knows the weakness of the party. Freddie Blay should have been smart enough- Aisha Huang wants the sympathy of the party. But I believe strongly in Godfred Odame, he is a solid and a principled person, he won’t burn the rule”.
He advised Freddie Blay and lawyer Effah to drop the case.