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The Minister of Defence, Mark Owen Woyongo, has come under severe criticism from a cross-section of residents in Kumasi, for suggesting that the recent killings in the city were being blown out of proportion. Members of parliament, social commentators and radio listeners have taken strong exception to Mr. Woyongo, in a response to an observation made by the former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, concerning the killings, was reported to have stated in an interview with an Accra-based radio, Joy 99.7FM, on Wednesday, that the incident was being over-hyped, and that many more had died in other regions, other than the Ashanti. The former First Lady noted that the upsurge in crime in the Ashanti Regional capital was a demonstration of a breakdown of law and order in the society. However, the Defence Minister, in his submission, asserted that the situation in Kumasi was not as bad as many would want the country to believe, stressing that it would be erroneous for anyone to assume there was chaos in the country as a result of what he termed as �minor incidents.� But the Defence Minister�s assertion appears not to have gone down well with some residents in the Kumasi metropolis, and they are calling for the Minister�s immediate resignation. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Ben Abdallah, told a Kumasi-based radio station, Kapital 97.1FM, that Mr. Woyongo�s statement was meant to water down serious matters involving the lives of innocent Ghanaians. He observed that under no circumstance should a minister of state, and a Defence Minister at that, whose duty is to ensure the protection of lives and property, try to belittle important incidents that have led to the deaths of almost seven people. The Offinso South MP noted that he agreed with the former First Lady that the seemingly lack of reaction from the police, the rise in crime, and the nature of crime in the region were enough testimony of an apparent breakdown of law and order. On his part, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, Mr. Samuel Pyne, stated in an interview with The Chronicle that he was very disappointed with the Defence Minister. �How do you, as a Minister, make such a statement when you are a living a witness to incidents of crimes in the last few months in the region; students are being killed; people are being attacked in broad daylight; Chinese miners are killing Ghanaians, and you say they are minor incidents?� Sam Pyne queried. The NPP regional scribe, therefore, observed that Mr. Woyongo had no business being a Defence Minister, or a minister of state, when, in his view, all these incidents were just minor and did not amount to a security threat. An Obuasi-based social commentator and Development Consultant, Mr. Kojo Ellimah, wondered if the lives of the people killed as a result of the incidents were of value to the Defence Minister. �He really said a lot more people have died elsewhere in Ghana, and that there is no cause for alarm, Goodness! Does he know the value of one life? This is serious, embarrassing and disappointing, coming from Mr. Mark Woyongo as a Minister of State,� Mr. Ellimah noted. Listeners and contributors to various radio discussions also lashed out at the Minister for his comments, and called for his resignation or immediate dismissal.