Some farmers dried cocoa beans on a recently built road at Ntobroso in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region.
One side of the paved road was shown in a social media video to be coated in cocoa beans.
“Since when did we start drying cocoa beans in the middle of the road?” the Ashanti Regional Minister questioned.
Together with several government representatives, he was evaluating ongoing feeder road projects in the region.
Simon Osei-Mensah was irritated when he learned of the occurrence and promptly ordered the removal of the cocoa beans.
One of the on-site locals shot back, saying they wouldn’t remove the beans because the road isn’t being used for illicit mining to justify the Minister’s order.
“Is this act not worse than galamsey? We will arrest you if you don’t take care,” Mr. Simon Osei-Mensah is heard saying in the video.
But the man quickly responded to the minister and said that even if he were to be detained, he would eventually be released.
The Regional Minister ordered the security to arrest him for his bad remarks, which made for an entertaining exchange.
The Assemblyman and several locals started begging on his behalf. They thought the man in question was intoxicated.
The man, who is thought to be in his early 40s, ignored the Ashanti Regional Minister and made no attempt to make amends.
“This man standing there, what shows he is drunk? He is just being foolish. What is the sense in this? Arrest him and let’s see if he could come back as he’s saying,” Simon Osei-Mensah directed.
