Referring to recalcitrant Kumasi traders as ‘goats’ not an insult - Minister

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr. Simon Osei Mensah has admitted he described recalcitrant traders within the Kumasi Metropolis as goats but says it was an insult directed at them

Earlier reports circulating on social indicated that the minister referred to the traders in the metropolis as goats on Tuesday but in clearing the air, the minister appears to have muddied the waters when he disclosed that he does not see the insult in referring to a section of the traders as goats.

On Angel Fm monitored by MyNewsgh.com, Mr Osei Mensah admitted using the word goat in his speech but explained that it was not directed at the traders as reported by a section of the media

“I did mention goats in my speech and I can’t deny that. I said, lets us not behave like goats which do not heed instructions. I said we shouldn’t behave like that”. He noted

“There are laws in the country, therefore, it states clearly where not to trade and to”, he explained.

He cited areas like the footbridge at Kajetia and Suame roundabouts where traders have encroached and engaging in brisk business activities within the Kumasi Metropolis warning that this practice poses major threats to the lives of the traders themselves.

The Minister it would be recalled on Tuesday described recalcitrant traders in the metropolis as “goat-like” people always flouting by-laws and selling on streets and pavements risking their lives.

“Some people behave like goats and they needed to be whip with canes before they will vacate from selling othe n street and several unauthorized places”.

In commemoration of this year’s World Environment Day in Kumasi under the pre-launching of “Keeping Kumasi Clean and Green Project” by the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), the minister bemoaned poor sanitation situation in the regional capital saying “you cannot sell cocaine in the open so why do you sell on streets and pavements to risk your lives”,

“I want to tell traders at Suame Roundabout, Kejetia and Adum area to quit those places now….we are coming to eject them in no time”, the Chairman of the Regional Security Committee (RESEC) hinted.

“We do not intent to collapse any person’s legal business rather, we want to insist right things are done according to KMA’s bye-laws”, Hon. Simon Osei Mensah stressed.