A physician assistant in Kumasi is among those picked up as investigators trace cash payments allegedly made to secure senior high school places.
The Ghana Police Service has arrested four more people in connection with alleged fraud around the 2026 Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), the electronic system that assigns Basic Education Certificate Examination candidates to senior high schools.
The arrests were made in Kumasi and at the Accra Resolution Centre, one of the walk-in offices set up by the Ministry of Education where parents whose children have placement problems go for help.
The Kumasi arrest
Among those picked up is Yaw Adjei Boateng, a physician assistant at the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Hospital in Kumasi. Adom Online reports that he was arrested on Thursday, September 24, and questioned by officers from the Police Intelligence Unit.
Information passed to the Ministry of Education by the police indicates that Boateng admitted knowing a woman named Vicentia Antwi Appiah, who is said to have approached him for help in getting a place for a student, Benedicta Yaa Edinam, at Mafe Methodist Girls' Senior High School.
Investigators say Boateng told them he collected GH\u00a28,500 from Antwi Appiah and passed the money on to Brian Opare Addo, said to be a staff member of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council, to push the placement through.
The placement did not come through. Boateng reportedly said he then asked Opare Addo to return the money, and it was refunded to the person who sent it. He is also said to have told investigators that Opare Addo had earlier helped him secure a place for another student at St Monica's Senior High School.
Opare Addo has been asked to report to the Intelligence Unit on Monday, September 28, to answer questions. He has not been arrested and has not publicly responded to the claims.
Arrests at the Accra centre
Two more suspects were arrested at the Accra Resolution Centre on Friday, September 25. Together with the Kumasi arrest, that brings the number of arrests to four within 48 hours. One more person has been invited to assist the investigation.
These follow two arrests made on September 17 over alleged involvement in placement fraud. Police say the investigation is still open.
Why it matters
Senior high school placement is one of the most anxious moments in the Ghanaian school calendar for families, and competition for the well-known schools is intense. That pressure has long created room for middlemen who promise, for a fee, to get a child into a preferred school.
For Ghanaians abroad who arrange schooling for relatives at home, the case is a reminder that the official route is through the CSSPS portal and the ministry's resolution centres, which do not charge for placement corrections.
No one arrested has so far been charged in court. Police have not said when charges may follow.
