The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, has defended lashing out at some caterers of the School Feeding Programme in the region who besieged his office.

Speaking in an interview on Onua TV, on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, monitored by GhanaWeb, Osei-Mensah said that his reaction to the action of the women should not matter because they were engaging in an illegality.

According to him, the women did not have permission from the Ghana Police Service to demonstrate which makes their action illegal and he does not condone illegality.

“You cannot demonstrate without informing the police. What they did was illegal, they didn’t even inform the police.

“You don’t just wake up like that and then you rise with noise to the Regional Coordinating Council. Is that what we do?

“Do you use illegality to solve your problems? Is that what you are saying… I don’t allow illegality in the system, no matter who you are,” he said in twi.

Background

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, could not keep his cool as he was addressing caterers of the School Feeding Programme in the region who besieged his office.

A viral video sighted by GhanaWeb showed the regional minister screaming at the caterers when he could no longer bear their complaints about the amount paid for the meals they provide to Junior High School students.

Simon Osei-Mensah could be seen in the video urging the caterers to stop making noise at the premises of the Ashanti Regional Secretariat.

He told them to present their petition and leave.

The women, who were not happy with his comments, started shouting at him.

The minister, clearly angered by the women raising their voices at him, threw his hands at them and left them unattended at the regional secretariat.

The women then started shouting “97 pesewas yengye bio, 97 pesewas yengye bio”.

The twi statement the women made means that they are no longer going to accept the 97 pesewas fee per head, they are paid for the meals they cook for pupils in government basic schools.

Watch a video of the incident below:



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