JoyNews investigative correspondent Manasseh Azure Awuni says the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School in the Ashanti Region, who has been suspended over sexual abuse allegations against female students, is a serving constituency secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and an aspirant for the chairmanship position.
Speaking on Joy FM on Thursday, October 15, about excerpts from his latest documentary, Manasseh said he learnt of the headmaster’s political position while filming in the community.
According to him, the headmaster intends to contest the chairmanship at the party’s constituency delegates’ conference, expected before the end of the year.
“This man [the headmaster], we are told, is the Juabeng Constituency Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress, and there are posters of him wanting to contest for the constituency chairman,” he claimed.
Manasseh expressed alarm at what he described as widespread knowledge of the allegations among residents, including NDC members, coupled with an apparent reluctance to speak publicly about them.
He said his interactions during the investigation suggested that the allegations were widely known within the community.
“So, a former NDC constituency executive who spoke to me, Frederick Addai, says that, anytime the issue [the alleged sexual assault] came up, some members of the party tried to come together and tried to calm tempers and get the issues resolved,” he said.
Manasseh also confirmed that although various people in the school as well as the Ghana Education Service in the district and region knew about the reports, they did not take adequate steps to act on them.
He suggested that the headmaster, who is in a position of power, appears to be enjoying some protection from people in high places.
The headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, is the subject of the documentary, Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow, which examines allegations of sexual abuse involving female students.
On October 13, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu directed the Ghana Education Service to suspend Mr Abdulai pending a full investigation. The Minister also requested an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service.