Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah has justified why he chastised School Feeding caterers who besieged his office on Monday.
Speaking to journalists, Mr Mensah said it was the first time the caterers were bringing their problem to his attention.
He therefore cannot understand why they decided to use a protest instead of a formal visit to air their grievances.
“I was in a meeting when I heard a noise outside so I sent my personal assistant to go and check and came back to tell me it was some School Feeding caterers demonstrating,” he said.
The caterers picketed at the Regional Coordinating Council premises demanding payment of unpaid arrears in the second term of the previous academic year.
However, the Minister turned his back on the women because he did not like how the caterers responded to his plea for calm.
Mr Osei Mensah returned to his office without taking a petition the caterers wanted to submit, an act which has been widely condemned.
But reacting to the backlash, the Ashanti Regional Minister said he sympathises with the caterers but he is not someone who tolerates illegality.
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According to him, the action of the caterers was illegal as they did not even service notice to the police about their picketing.
“If the security at the Regional Coordinating Council had reacted and attacked them, what would have been the results? We must be truthful to ourselves in this country and stop pampering people, the impunity is too much.
“I will not be happy if the government is owing me for months and I’m unable to feed my family with interests accruing but we should not use illegality to solve our problems,” he stated.
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