Following the August 5, 2026 riot at the campus of the Obuasi Senior High Technical School, which resulted in a physical attack on the headmaster, Abdulai Zakaria, by some students, the regional committee of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has recommended that he be reposted to another school, together with all other staff implicated in the incident.
This is to help restore peace to the TVET school’s Obuasi campus. GES headquarters is reviewing that recommendation; no final decision has been taken yet.
Meanwhile, in relation to a separate allegation of sexual abuse against some female students of the school, the headmaster has been suspended by the GES, in line with last Tuesday’s directive from the Ministry of Education, pending full-scale investigations.
The sexual abuse allegation is based on a documentary in which some of the victims have been narrating their ordeal.
What happened on August 5, 2026?
Six students suspected of having played various roles in a rampage and a physical attack on the headmaster of the Obuasi SHTS were arrested by the police,
Some students of the school in the early hours of Wednesday (August 5) attacked the headmaster, Abdulai Zakaria, following a violent confrontation.
They accused the headmaster of engaging in ritual activities on campus.
After physically attacking the headmaster, they entered his bungalow and destroyed property, including a Toyota RAV4 vehicle with registration number AC 127 – 23 and other household property belonging to the headmaster.
Information gathered indicated that one of the students claimed he saw the headmaster’s vehicle around the school’s refuse dump and quickly raised an alarm, attracting many students to the scene.
They claimed to have discovered a fresh baby buried at the place and subsequently confronted and assaulted the headmaster.
Zakaria, who sustained multiple injuries, was admitted to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi for medical care.
It took an intervention by the police to maintain law and order and prevent an escalation of the violent confrontation.
That notwithstanding, some irate students destroyed school property, including items at the headmaster’s bungalow.
Following this incident, the regional committee of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has recommended the reposting of the headmaster and other staff of the school. The GES headquarters is yet to take a decision on that recommendation.
Fresh sexual abuse allegation and investigation
Meanwhile, in relation to the fresh allegations that the headmaster sexually abused some female students, the Deputy Director-General of GES in charge of Quality and Access, Dr Issahaque Munawaru, speaking in a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Accra-based Joy FM on Thursday, October 15, 2026, said any staff member found culpable of sexual misconduct would be dismissed.
Committee’s findings on riot
On the issue of the riot, Dr Munawaru said GES officials visited the school after the riot and met the Municipal Chief Executive and the police command, which informed them that investigations were ongoing.
He said the service referred the professional aspects of the matter to a committee, while the police handled the criminal investigation.
According to him, the committee’s report reached GES headquarters the previous week, and he understood that the Director-General had assigned officials to review its findings.
Dr Munawaru said the report contained about 27 or 28 recommendations.
Under Recommendation 23, the committee proposed that the headmaster and other staff be “reposted to other institutions or duty stations in the interest of the service”.
The recommendation cited the circumstances surrounding the disturbance and concerns about security at the school.
The first recommendation called for teachers, non-teaching staff and students whose names came up during the investigation, and whose conduct raised reasonable suspicion or concern, to be referred to the appropriate disciplinary authorities.
The committee also recommended the dissolution of all informal student groupings and associations.
Under Recommendation 24, it proposed strengthening channels for reporting sexual harassment, including training designated staff to handle complaints confidentially and promptly in line with GES safeguarding policies.
GES position
On the allegations of sexual abuse, Dr Munawaru said he had not seen explicit findings of culpability in the portions of the report he had read.
He explained that this did not necessarily mean the report contained no such findings, adding that GES headquarters had the authority to vary a regional committee’s findings where there were grounds to do so.
On the sanctions for proven sexual misconduct, he said, “Once we establish culpability, it’s dismissal.”
He explained that termination allowed an officer to leave with some benefits, while dismissal meant an outright end to the person’s service.
Dr Munawaru also said the GES Council has approved about 15 dismissals in October 2026 in sexual harassment cases dating back to 2021.
He said the timing of the review of the Obuasi SHTS report would depend on instructions from the Director-General.
