Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, has expressed profound disappointment in former President John Dramani Mahama for failing to publicly condemn alleged violent actions by NDC-affiliated youth targeting state properties after the 2024 elections.
His remarks come in the wake of a violent clash between illegal miners and military personnel on Saturday, January 18, 2025, which left seven people dead.
The incident occurred around 11:00 PM, involving approximately 60 illegal miners who breached the security perimeter of the Obuasi mine to access its Deep Decline area.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu criticized the violence and urged President Mahama to denounce the attacks.
He also condemned a journalist for allegedly inciting Obuasi youth to seize the gold mine, calling such statements reckless and criminal.
“The Obuasi Mine doesn’t belong solely to Obuasi residents or indigenes,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated, emphasizing that Article 257(6) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution establishes that all minerals in their natural state are the property of the state, held in trust by the President for the people of Ghana.
Warning against such rhetoric, he added, “Let us be careful. A coup has not occurred in Ghana. What you sow today, you will reap tomorrow. If nobody incited them, would they have gone there?”
The former minister urged restraint and adherence to the rule of law to prevent further unrest.