A committee that investigated the August 2026 disturbances at the Obuasi Senior High Technical School in the Ashanti Region has found that the school’s sports master, Kwasi Brefo, incited and mobilised students to attack the headmaster.
According to a report from the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES), his conduct significantly contributed to the escalation of the demonstration into a physical assault on the headmaster.
“The Committee established from the evidence presented before it that Mr Kwasi Brefo, the Sports Master, incited and mobilised students to pursue and attack the Headmaster during the demonstration,” the report stated.
The committee also found that Mr Brefo urged the headmaster to confess to burying a baby on the school compound while students were attacking him.
It described the conduct as serious and inconsistent with a teacher’s responsibility to maintain discipline, protect students and staff, and promote the peaceful resolution of grievances.
The findings relate to disturbances on Tuesday, 4 August 2026, following the discovery of what appeared to be the remains of a baby buried on the school grounds. The unrest resulted in an assault on the headmaster and damage to school and personal property.
In his account to the committee, Mr Brefo said he intervened when students began assaulting the headmaster, shouted at them to stop and pleaded with them not to continue.
He also said he asked some students to escort the headmaster to his bungalow for protection.
However, the report said Mr Brefo admitted during questioning that he told the headmaster to confess while the attack was taking place.
“The Committee found that his conduct significantly contributed to the escalation of the demonstration from a student protest into an attack on the Headmaster,” it stated.
The committee recommended that staff and students whose conduct raised reasonable suspicion or concern be referred to the appropriate disciplinary authorities for further hearings.
Mr Brefo was among those named in the recommendation. The committee said any sanctions should follow an established finding of culpability and that each person should have an opportunity to be heard.
The report separately concluded that the allegation linking the headmaster to the burial was not substantiated by direct evidence. It said none of the students or teachers who appeared before it claimed to have witnessed him burying the baby.
Beyond individual conduct, investigators identified weak security, staff divisions, student gangs and a breakdown of trust within the school community as factors contributing to the disturbances.
The nine-member committee was inaugurated on 11 August to investigate the demonstration, the headmaster’s conduct and other related matters.
Its findings concern the earlier August incident. They are separate from a fresh investigation commissioned by the Ghana Education Service following a recent JoyNews investigation into another allegation of sexual abuse against the headmaster.