The Ghana Education Service says the move is to stop any interference in an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
Two senior education officials in the Ashanti Region have been told to step aside while investigators look into allegations of sexual misconduct involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS).
The Ghana Education Service (GES), the state body that runs pre-tertiary public schools in Ghana, named the two officials as Dr. William Amankrah Appiah, the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, and Mr. Kwamena Owusu-Nketiah, the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education. The directive takes effect immediately.
The Ghanaian Times reported that GES management said the step-aside order is meant to ensure the investigation can run without interference, or even the appearance of interference.
What the directive requires
Both officials are to hand over their offices and any state property they hold to Mr. Thomas Kwame Boateng, the Deputy Ashanti Regional Director of Education. He takes charge while the process continues.
Being asked to step aside is not a finding of wrongdoing. It is an administrative measure commonly used in the Ghanaian public service to remove officials from positions where they could influence an ongoing inquiry.
Headmaster still interdicted
GES also used the statement to correct information circulating in public about the headmaster at the centre of the case, Mr. Zakaria Abdulai. Management said he remains interdicted and asked the public to disregard any claim that he has been cleared.
Interdiction in the Ghanaian public service means an officer is temporarily removed from duty while a disciplinary or criminal matter is investigated. It does not end the person's employment, and it does not decide guilt.
GES appealed for calm and asked the public, parents and staff to cooperate while the investigation is completed.
Wider pressure on the case
The Obuasi SHTS matter has drawn attention beyond the education sector. On the same day, former Fisheries Minister Mavis Hawa Koomson called for the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to investigate alleged sexual abuse involving 19 students at the school.
That means the case could move along two tracks at once: an internal GES disciplinary process and, if the police take it up, a criminal inquiry.
Why it matters
For families in Obuasi and across the Ashanti Region, the immediate question is whether students at the school are safe and supported while the process runs. The decision to move aside both the regional and municipal directors, rather than only officials at the school, suggests GES wants distance between the inquiry and the local chain of command.
For Ghanaians in the United States with children or relatives in boarding schools back home, the case is another test of how quickly and openly the education system handles safeguarding complaints.
GES has not announced a timeline for the investigation or said when findings will be made public.
