The National Identification Authority (NIA) has denied registering any applicant by the name Aisha Huang.

According to the Authority, its National Identity Register (NIR) does not contain any record of a person named AISHA HUANG.

“Put differently, the name AISHA HUANG does not exist in the National Identification System (NIS) database”, the NIA said in a statement dated September 6, 2022.

On Tuesday, Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu commented on allegations that Chinese ‘galamsey’ kingpin, Aisha Huang has a Ghana Card.

The legislator expressed surprise at reports that the embattled Chinese national who has been arrested for engaging in illegal mining acquired the Ghana Card as recently as February this year.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Mr Iddrisu expressed concern over how the lady came by the national identity card.

He stressed that the Minority will be monitoring events closely in the coming days, especially since she was deported before her card’s issuance date.

However, the NIA explained that “On February 26, 2014, a Chinese woman named HUANG EN registered as a first-time applicant for a foreigner identity card at the Foreigner Identification Management System (FIMS) registration centre at Nhyiaeso, Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region.

Her biometrics was captured and she was issued a Non-citizen Ghana Card.

She subsequently did two more renewals on 31st August 2016 and 8th January 2018, using the same details and Chinese passport number G39575625- Forename: En, Surname: Huang, Date of Birth: 07-Jul-86, Personal ID Number: CHN-010039480-J, Passport Number: G39575625.”

The statement continued that “On August 25, 2022, at 10:35 am, an incident occurred at the FIMS Registration Centre in Tamale, Northern Region, involving a Chinese national who visited the centre as a first-time applicant with the following details: Forename: RUIXIA, Surname: HUANG, Date of Birth: 07-Nov-75, Passport Number: EJ5891162.

The registration, however, went into a technical state known as ‘RejectedDueAFIS’, which meant that the biometrics of RUIXIA HUANG possibly matched that of an already existing person in the NIS database. The registration officer, therefore, sent a request to the technical support team for further investigations.

This revealed that, based on the biometrics provided, “RUIXIA HUANG” had previously registered as EN HUANG in the FIMS record under the NIS database. When confronted by the registration officer with this information, she claimed to have changed her name.

"As per NIA’s normal registration process, EN HUANG was asked to provide an officially certified affidavit and a gazette as required by law to support the change of name if the details in the passport with the number EJ5891162 were to be used to update her old records,” the NIA clarified.

Below is the full statement issued by the NIA: