Authorities knew of sexual abuse allegations against Obuasi headmaster months before suspension

A JoyNews investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has revealed that authorities were aware of allegations of sexual abuse involving suspended Obuasi Senior High Technical School headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, months before the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, directed the Ghana Education Service (GES) to suspend him.

The allegations are examined in the documentary Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow, which investigates claims of sexual abuse involving female students at the school.

According to the investigation, complaints and petitions concerning alleged sexual harassment and assault had reached municipal authorities, education officials and other influential individuals. However, Mr Abdulai remained in office until JoyNews began making inquiries into the matter.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Obuasi, Faustilove Appiah Kannin, disclosed that she received a report about the alleged abuse shortly after assuming office.

Speaking to JoyNews, she said a former sports master at the school contacted her to report an alleged sexual encounter between the headmaster and a student.

“I was there when the former sports master of the school called me to inform me that the headmaster had slept with one of the students. As a mother and a municipal chief executive, I had to invite the parent,” she said.

When asked when the incident was reported, Ms Appiah Kannin responded: “I think it was last year, early last year.”

Her account suggests that concerns about the alleged conduct had been raised well before the recent suspension of the headmaster.

Kumasi Mayor Richard Ofori-Agyemang Boadi, popularly known as Zuba, also disclosed that he had intervened after hearing allegations of sexual abuse involving Mr Abdulai.

The mayor, who is also a native of Obuasi, said he learnt of the allegations during a visit to the town when tensions at the school were reportedly threatening to trigger a student riot.

“So I went to Obuasi one day, and it was all over that there was heat at Obuasi Sec Tech, and the boys were going to riot that evening,” he told JoyNews.

He continued: “I was told that there’s an allegation that the headmaster of the school had molested one of the female students. And the headmaster is someone who’s been known to me for so many years, even before I became the mayor of Obuasi. So I asked that they call him for me.”

The mayor’s account adds to the testimonies indicating that allegations concerning the headmaster had circulated among individuals in positions of authority before the matter prompted formal action.

Mr Abdulai has since been suspended as headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School following the controversy.

The suspension followed a directive from Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu to the Ghana Education Service.

The JoyNews investigation has raised questions about how earlier complaints were handled and why the headmaster remained in office despite reports allegedly reaching municipal and education authorities.

The allegations remain allegations, and the accounts presented in the investigation should not be treated as a judicial determination of guilt.