A leading member of the Movement for Change, Solomon Owusu, has described the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) decision to allow embattled Obuasi Senior High Technical School headmaster Zakaria Abdulai to contest the Juaben Constituency Chairmanship election as legally justified but politically damaging.

Speaking exclusively to GhanaWeb on October 20, 2026, Owusu argued that the presumption of innocence meant Abdulai should not be disqualified solely on the basis of allegations of sexual misconduct without a competent court or state investigative body establishing his guilt.

“It is a legally good decision, but politically bad decision because our constitution is very clear that a person is innocent until proven guilty. And so, as we speak, no court of competent jurisdiction here, neither a state investigative body, has established that he is guilty of the offences or the allegations levelled against him,” he stated.

Owusu, however, cautioned that the NDC’s decision could have political consequences, given the allegations brought into the public domain through an investigation by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni and the Ministry of Education’s decision to interdict the headmaster.

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“Politically, it is a bad decision. Remember, there is also an investigation that has been done by Manasseh Azure and remember the Ministry of Education has interdicted the headmaster. It means they have weighed the offences, they would have looked at the merits of it and realised that there is a likelihood of sanctions at the end of the day,” he noted.

He warned that allowing Abdulai to contest could create the impression that the party was insensitive to the concerns of those affected by the allegations.

“If you allow the person to go and contest, the affected individuals and their families will see you as a party that is not sensitive,” he said.

Owusu maintained that the legal principle of presumption of innocence should be respected but said the political implications of the party’s decision also warranted consideration.

The NDC’s Functional Executive Committee (FEC) has defended its decision not to disqualify Abdulai from the constituency chairmanship race despite allegations of sexual misconduct involving female students of the school.

The committee said its decision was guided by the principles of fairness and natural justice.

JKB/VPO

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