Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was misled by a report into the alleged sexual abuse scandal at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), which influenced the party’s initial decision to allow Zakaria Abdulai, the school's headmaster linked to the controversy, to participate in its primaries.

According to him, the party relied largely on a report from a committee set up to investigate the allegations by the Ghana Education Service (GES), but the document was structured in a way that presented the candidate favourably while shifting attention towards the victims of the scandal.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews on Tuesday, October 21, 2026, Manasseh said he had received calls from some senior NDC executives who admitted that the party had made a mistake in its initial assessment of the report.

He explained that the executives had justified their earlier position on the grounds that the allegations against the candidate had not been proven and that they did not want to disadvantage him based on unsubstantiated claims.

However, the journalist said the party should have investigated the matter further before arriving at its decision.

“I can appreciate someone who may rely on that report mechanism because that report was engineered to make the man look good and rather put the blame on helping the girls,” he said.

Manasseh questioned why the report appeared to place greater responsibility on other individuals instead of raising further questions about the conduct of some school authorities.

He cited the roles of the senior housemistress and housemistress, whom he said should also have had questions to answer over the handling of the matter.

“The point I'm making is that whoever relied on this report was likely to be misled,” he added.

Despite acknowledging that the party may have relied on the report in good faith, Manasseh said the NDC could have done better by considering other accounts and watching the documentary on the scandal before making its initial decision.

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He noted that some individuals who had spoken about the controversy were themselves associated with the NDC, making their accounts relevant to the party’s assessment of the allegations.

Among them, he mentioned the Kumasi Mayor, the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive and a former Obuasi constituency organiser of the party.

He further alleged that there had been efforts to get information about the matter removed from social media.

According to the journalist, these accounts should have prompted the party to examine the allegations more carefully before deciding on the candidate’s participation in the primary.

“These should have given them enough grounds not to rescind their earlier decision to ask the man not to go,” he said.

Manasseh acknowledged that public pressure and outrage may have contributed to the party’s eventual decision to reverse its earlier position.

He, however, welcomed the change, describing the party’s current position as more acceptable than the arguments advanced by some of its leading members in defence of the candidate’s inclusion in the race.

“If someone makes a mistake and then corrects it, so be it,” he said.

Watch a video of his remarks below:

.@Manasseh_Azure explains why the NDC may have been misled by the committee findings on the August 5 disturbances at Obuasi SHTS, but insists the ruling party should have probed further. #JoySMS https://t.co/nD0aGKhaei

— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) October 21, 2026