The President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Jacob Anaba, has criticised the decision by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to allow the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, to contest a party constituency chairmanship position amid allegations of sexual abuse involving female students.
He said the decision to allow the headmaster to contest for the post, raised serious questions about the country’s values and the standards expected of people entrusted with the care of students.
“If NDC should come and say that he should contest, then it means that [in] this country, we have lost all our values,” Mr Anaba said on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, October 19.
He was responding to NDC Deputy General Secretary Mustapha Gbande’s revelation on the same programme that Zakaria Abdulai could now file and contest while investigations into the sexual abuse allegations against him continued.
The decision follows Abdulai’s appearance before the party’s Functional Executive Committee. Gbande said the party needed to hear his response before deciding its next move.
The development followed a report by JoyNews investigative correspondent Manasseh Azure Awuni on allegations of sexual abuse involving more than 14 female students at Obuasi SHTS. The headmaster has been interdicted and suspended following the revelations.
Commenting on the matter, Mr Anaba said the allegations should be treated with the seriousness they deserved, arguing that the authority wielded by a headmaster over students made it particularly important for complaints to be investigated thoroughly.
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“There are ladies who have spoken. There are parents who have spoken. And NDC is telling us that this man is clean,” he said.
Calls for accountability
Mr Anaba said reports about the alleged abuse dated back to 2025 and questioned why the matter had not prompted decisive action earlier.
He maintained that the headmaster should not be allowed to continue teaching if the allegations were established, describing the teaching profession as one that demanded a high level of responsibility towards students.
“This man should leave immediately. He can’t be a teacher again, because the profession that we decide to belong to is a noble one,” he said.
“You have a fiduciary relationship with the student that you are handling. We may make mistakes, but not this type of mistake.”
The NAGRAT president said his concern was not simply about the position taken by a political party but about the broader implications for public confidence in institutions and the protection of children.
“I don’t have a problem with a party position. But I’m afraid for our country, Ghana,” he said.
He also called for anyone found culpable to face the appropriate legal and disciplinary processes, insisting that no individual should be shielded because of political affiliation, professional standing or personal connections.