The girls of Obuasi Senior High Technical School were failed. Over a period of more than a year, reports of sexual harassment, assault and rape by their headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, reached school management, the Municipal Chief Executive, a traditional authority figure, political actors, and Ghana Education Service officials at municipal and regional levels. Decisive action came only after an investigative documentary by Manasseh Azure Awuni, “Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow”, forced the matter into the open.

By then, the number of students who had come forward had risen from an initial handful to 14, then 16, and later 19. They were abandoned to their fate by people who held public office and a clear duty to protect them.

The Obuasi Pattern of Inaction

Zakaria Abdulai was appointed headmaster in April 2025. Allegations began circulating within weeks. In early 2025, the Obuasi West Municipal Chief Executive, Faustilove Appiah Kannin, was informed by the former sports master that the headmaster had slept with a student. She invited the parent.

The matter was not pursued to a formal investigation or police report. An Obuasi East MCE, William Kofi Adjaho (“Biggy”), later intervened at night to remove a student from campus after a sexual assault complaint, citing the father’s fury and his own position as an NDC member. He acknowledged the allegation was criminal but said those involved did not believe they had sufficient evidence to report it to the police.

In February 2026, the school’s Girl Child Coordinator and safeguarding teacher petitioned school management for an immediate, impartial and confidential investigation into a growing number of complaints. In March 2026, five girls reported alleged sexual assault to the Obuasi West Municipal Director of Education, George Alfred Koomson, three of them submitted written complaints.

Koomson confirmed the reports to the investigation but said he fell seriously ill and no meaningful investigation followed before a further alleged rape on 25th July 2026. The school’s old students’ association later petitioned. Complaints were described as “all over” Obuasi, raising fears of student unrest.

Kumasi Mayor Richard Ofori-Agyemang Boadi (Zuba), a native of Obuasi and son of the chief, became aware, invited Zakaria Abdulai to Kumasi and cautioned him. He also held a meeting with the headmaster and a housemistress on safeguarding. These steps did not stop the alleged pattern or trigger a police referral.

Some responses carried elements of minimisation or deflection. A senior housemistress suggested girls had been coached. Parents reportedly withdrew complaints under pressure from opinion leaders.

A regional GES committee that examined the August 2026 student riot (in which students attacked the headmaster and vandalised his bungalow after the discovery of what appeared to be buried foetal remains) found the sexual allegations before it unsubstantiated on the limited evidence presented, and recommended reposting the headmaster and implicated staff “in the interest of the service.” Manasseh Azure Awuni later described any claim of exoneration by the regional office as “the biggest insult to the victims,” noting that the same structures had failed to act on earlier reports.

Only after the documentary did Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu direct the GES to interdict Zakaria Abdulai (confirmed by the Service on 14th October 2026) and refer the matter for criminal investigation. The Ashanti Regional Director and Obuasi East Municipal Director of Education were later directed to step aside to avoid any perception of interference. Police forwarded at least one docket to the Attorney-General over the the 25th July 2026 allegation involving a form two student who said she was lured to the bungalow, assaulted and given GH¢100.

Zakaria Abdulai has said he has his own account of the allegations against him. He has been cautioned and granted self-recognisance bail by the Police, and is awaiting a date for trial to begin. He has also sued the journalist, Manasseh

Azure Awuni and Multimedia Group for defamation

Deputy Education Minister Clement Abas Apaak has acknowledged a failure in the GES reporting structure for such abuses. A teacher, Stephen Desu, put it more bluntly, “the state, meaning the GES, has failed woefully.”

A Broader and Recurring Failure

This is not an isolated scandal. JoyNews Research has tracked at least 44 cases of teachers and school heads accused of sexually abusing students between January 2015 and October 2026, involving more than 50 individuals, all male where identified. Cases peaked in 2018 and then fell, but have risen again recently: ten cases from January 2025 to mid-October 2026. School heads now feature in roughly four in every ten of the most recent cases, a sharp increase from earlier years. More than half the tracked cases have no publicly reported final verdict or sanction. Only twelve ended in criminal conviction (mostly basic-school cases involving younger pupils). No senior high school head has been convicted. No GES dismissal for sexual misconduct has been publicly reported since 2019 and recent matters commonly stall at interdiction.

Documented examples in the last five years include a mathematics teacher at Sawla SHS jailed for 15 years for rape of a student, an assistant headmaster at KNUST SHS removed after a viral video of fondling, and various other interdictions after videos or pregnancy allegations at schools including Bole SHS, Okadjakrom SHS and others. Outcomes remain patchy, and many files simply disappear from public view.

Appropriate Accountability

If the allegations against Zakaria Abdulai are proved beyond in court, the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) provides for severe punishment. Rape and defilement of a child (where the student is under 16) carry substantial custodial sentences; aggravated sexual assault and related offences likewise attract long terms of imprisonment. He should face full criminal prosecution.

Administratively, he should be dismissed from the Ghana Education Service, barred from any future teaching or school leadership role, and placed on any available sex-offender or child-protection watch lists. Political office or party positions must not shield him.

GES officials at district and regional level who received written or oral reports and failed to investigate, refer to police, or escalate promptly must also answer. Dereliction of duty in the face of credible allegations of sexual violence against students warrants interdiction, investigation, and where negligence or wilful omission is established, dismissal, demotion or other severe disciplinary sanctions under the GES Code of Conduct and relevant public-service rules. Failure to report a known or suspected sexual offence against a child can itself attract criminal liability.

The directors who have already been directed to step aside should be subjected to a transparent inquiry, any finding of inaction or cover-up should lead to termination of appointment and, where the law allows, referral to the police. The same standard should apply to school-level staff who received direct complaints and did not act.

Reforms That Must Follow

Words of regret will not protect the next cohort of girls. Concrete changes are required:

•Mandatory, time-bound reporting with automatic police referral. Any allegation of sexual misconduct by a teacher or head against a student must be reported to the police and an independent child-protection body within 48 hours. Internal GES investigation cannot substitute for or delay a criminal referral.

• Independent external investigation. Cases involving school heads or senior officers must be investigated by a body outside the school’s reporting line and outside the immediate municipal or regional GES structure.

•Protected channels for students and staff. Girl Child Coordinators, housemistresses and students must have a confidential, well-publicised external hotline that bypasses the school hierarchy. Retaliation against anyone who reports must itself be a dismissible offence.

•Sanctions for institutional failure. Directors and heads who fail to act on credible reports should face automatic interdiction pending inquiry and clear, published disciplinary outcomes. Silence must carry consequences.

•Regular safeguarding audits and training. Annual independent audits of school safeguarding protocols, background checks for staff in positions of authority, and compulsory training with documented compliance.

• Transparent public reporting. The GES should publish, at least annually, the number of sexual-misconduct allegations received, the stage of each matter, and final outcomes. Opacity has allowed patterns to continue.

The girls at Obuasi SHTS were not “bad girls.” They were students under the care of adults who held statutory and moral responsibility for their safety. Those adults rather abused their responsibilities and took advantage of their vulnerable students. Those in authority also looked away until a journalist’s documentary made looking away impossible.

That is the shame that attaches to the Ghana Education Service and to every official who placed institutional convenience, political affiliation or personal comfort above the protection of young girls. Accountability for what happened, and structural change to stop it happening again, are the minimum owed to them.