A storm erupted in Parliament after Yusif Sulemana, the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, claimed that residents of Kyebi once drank water from the same source as pigs.

The remark, made during a debate on the impact of illegal mining, provoked instant backlash, demands for evidence, and a fierce public response from Kyebi youth who described the statement as a distortion of history.

The controversy began on Friday when the NDC MP for Bole responded to concerns over the decline of water bodies due to illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.

Seeking to highlight what he said were interventions under President John Mahama, he stated that before those efforts, “the people of Kyebi were drinking water with pigs.”

The comment sparked immediate agitation on the floor. Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh rose on a point of order, describing the remark as “unfounded, offensive and disrespectful.”

The Nswawam-Adoagyiri MP insisted that the Deputy Minister must either provide evidence or withdraw the comment and apologise.

“If he wants to stand by it, then he must provide evidence. Otherwise, the comment must be withdrawn and expunged from the records,” Mr Annoh-Dompreh said.

The First Deputy Speaker later ordered the statement struck out of the Parliamentary Hansard.

During the debate, Mr Annoh-Dompreh also renewed his call for weekly Parliamentary briefings on the galamsey crisis, arguing that the worsening situation requires consistent updates from the Lands Ministry, security agencies, and the Minerals Commission.

Outside Parliament, Mr Sulemana’s remark triggered outrage in Kyebi.

Youth groups and opinion leaders issued a strongly worded statement rejecting the claim as “false, malicious, and a deliberate distortion of history.”

They argued that Kyebi has had a functional water treatment system since 1971 and noted that the Mahama administration only expanded an existing facility in 2014.

At no point, they insisted, did residents rely on water sources shared with animals.

The youth said a basic review of historical records would have prevented what they described as an “embarrassing and uninformed statement.”

They pointed out that Sulemana’s own constituency faces some of the country’s worst developmental challenges, according to the Ghana Statistical Service.

They further outlined a timeline of water infrastructure projects in Akyem Abuakwa, from Kufuor’s initiation of the Koforidua Water Supply System in 2008 to the Atta Mills administration’s expansion of the project in 2011.

They stressed that former President Mahama never presented any water supply project for Kyebi to Parliament.

The youth said the Deputy Minister’s remarks were disrespectful to the Okyenhene, the people of Akyem Abuakwa, and former President Akufo-Addo, who hails from the town.

They warned that such statements fuel division and undermine the quality of political discourse.