Obuasi SHTS headmaster has not been cleared of sexual abuse allegations – GES

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has clarified that the Headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School, Abdulai Zakaria, has not been cleared of allegations of sexual abuse involving female students.

The Service says its Disciplinary Committee is still investigating the matter and has not completed its work, contrary to reports suggesting that the headmaster had been exonerated.

Speaking on JoyNews' The Pulse on Friday, November 6, the Public Relations Officer of the GES, Daniel Fenyi, said no individual involved in the matter had been cleared.

“The issue is very sensitive. The best we can do to serve our stakeholders is to give them up-to-speed accurate information regarding what's happening. First of all, no single individual in this whole matter has been cleared.

“The headmaster has not been cleared. In fact, just as you mentioned, the committee is yet to finalise its work,” he stated.

Mr Fenyi was responding to questions about the status of investigations into the allegations, following reports suggesting that the committee had completed its work and cleared the headmaster.

He explained that the committee, which was initially expected to submit its findings on Wednesday, had requested additional time to engage all the alleged victims before concluding its investigations.

According to him, the committee considers the accounts of the affected students essential to producing a comprehensive report that reflects their experiences.

He said some of the students who had been scheduled to meet the committee did not honour their appointments, while others required alternative arrangements to participate in the process.

Mr Fenyi said the GES management had consequently granted the committee an additional seven working days to complete its engagements and gather the necessary information.

"The reason is quite simple: they wish that, by the time they are done, the report will reflect the genuine experiences of all the participants or victims in the whole saga. Management thought that no, this is very genuine.

"If you want a seven-working-day extension to be able to reach every single individual, then that is sound. And so, management granted."

The GES spokesperson assured stakeholders that the investigation remained ongoing and that the Service expected the committee to complete its work within the extended period.

He said the committee had also visited the Obuasi SHTS campus to interact with students and gather further information to support its investigations.