Petitions from alleged victims at Obuasi Senior High Technical School reportedly went unanswered by regional and municipal education officials, who have now been told to step aside pending investigations.
The Ghana Education Service (GES), the state body that runs Ghana's public basic and secondary schools, has ordered the Ashanti Regional Director of Education and the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education to step aside while investigations continue into alleged sexual abuse at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
The case centres on the school's headmaster, and has been one of the most widely discussed stories in the country since it first broke.
Petitions that went unanswered
In a commentary on the matter, Daily Guide Network reported that the alleged victims had written petitions to both the regional and municipal education directors, and that neither official acted on the complaints.
The Ashanti Regional Director of Education is said to have explained that he was unwell at the time. The newspaper questioned why a deputy could not have handled a petition of that seriousness in his absence.
It is this failure to respond, rather than the underlying allegations alone, that appears to have triggered the GES directive for the two officers to stand aside.
Where the case stands
The commentary notes that a docket on the matter has already been sent to the Attorney-General's Department, which advises on whether criminal charges should be brought. At the same time, fresh investigations are said to be about to begin.
That sequence has raised concern that the process could be slowed down. Daily Guide's commentary openly asked whether the delay amounts to an attempt to weaken the case over time. That is a question, not an established fact, and no official has confirmed any such intention.
The headmaster, named in the commentary as Zakaria Abdulai, is reported to be planning to go to court to clear his name. He has not been convicted of anything, and the allegations against him remain allegations until a court determines otherwise.
Calls for official voices
The piece also criticised the silence of Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Ghana's first female Vice President, arguing that a word from her would reassure female students at both senior high school and tertiary level. The Ministry of Gender was similarly faulted for what the commentary described as inaction.
Neither the Vice President nor the ministry has publicly responded, based on what the source reports.
Why it matters
For families in Ghana and for Ghanaians abroad with children in boarding schools back home, the central issue is simple: complaints were reportedly made through the proper channels and nothing happened. The GES action against the two directors signals that supervisors can be held responsible for ignoring such reports.
The commentary also urged that the students who signed the petitions be protected from any reprisals while the case runs its course.
