The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has explained why he was angry when caterers for the government’s school food programme in the Ashanti Region presented him with a petition on Monday, April 3.
Caterers who are requesting that the government pay their arrears and increase the amount expressed their displeasure with the Regional Minister for how he received them.
Mr. Simon Osei Mensah, speaking to the media, argues that the caterers did not follow due process and were protesting at the Regional Coordinating Council, which prompted him to react in this manner.
“I was in a meeting yesterday when I heard some noise outside the office, and so I sent my special assistant to find out, and he came and told me it was caterers protesting outside. They did not even seek security clearance before demonstrating, so you can imagine what would have happened if the security personnel at the Regional Coordinating Council had reacted to them”.
“We must be truthful to ourselves in this country and stop pampering people because impunity is too much. Though I sympathise with the caterers, we should not allow people to break the law in their attempt to have their problems solved. We should solve our problems through legal means. You can’t just take the law into your hands and do what you want because I will not tolerate that.”
Dorothy Sarpong, the regional spokesperson for the School Feeding Programme, revealed in an interview with OilCity Radio on Monday, April 3 that the Regional Minister booted them out when they went to petition the Minister about the non-payment of arrears.
