Former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection Otiko Afisah Djaba has urged Vice-President Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang to visit students allegedly sexually abused at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), saying that calls for the law to take its course are not enough to address their immediate needs.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews about the allegations against the school’s headmaster, Ms Djaba questioned what was being done to protect the affected girls while investigations continued.
Her comments follow a statement by the Vice-President describing the allegations as a serious national concern and calling for the law to take its course.
Ms Djaba said the Vice-President should demonstrate her commitment to the welfare of the students by engaging directly with them and ensuring they receive the necessary support and protection.
“While the law is taking its course, what’s happening to the children?” she asked.
“I would have expected by now that she herself would go there,” she added.
Ms Djaba said her appeal was not about restricting the Vice-President’s responsibilities to women’s issues because of her gender. Rather, she said, the country’s first female Vice-President had an opportunity to demonstrate leadership on matters affecting women and children.
Recalling the Vice-President’s appeal for women’s support during the election campaign, she said the significance of having a woman in the country’s second-highest political office should be reflected in action on issues affecting their welfare.
“It’s not about gender boxing,” she said.
“Nobody is saying that because you are a woman and you are a vice; only focus on women.”
She added: “When you have been given this huge opportunity, to whom much is given, much is expected.”
Ms Djaba also questioned the handling of the allegations, arguing that an earlier intervention could have prevented further harm to students.
Read also: Let the law take its course in Obuasi SHTS abuse exposé – Vice-President Opoku-Agyemang
Referring to April 2025, she said the failure to address the matter decisively at the time had allowed the situation to worsen, with the number of alleged victims reportedly reaching 19.
“The law, as we have seen, has failed us. The system has failed the girls,” she said.
“If this thing had been addressed in April of 2025, do you think we would be talking about 19 girls? No, it wouldn’t have gotten to that. It wouldn’t have.”
She further argued that an earlier intervention by the Vice President could have prevented other girls from allegedly being assaulted.
“If she had interfered, intervened in 2025, would we be talking about 19 girls? We would have avoided all these other girls being assaulted,” she said.
“And that is my pain,” she added.
Ms Djaba also criticised what she considered an inadequate public response from President John Mahama, urging him to speak clearly on the allegations and demonstrate that protecting children and upholding the law take precedence over political considerations.
“And the President of Ghana, what has he said? He’s the father of all of us,” she said.
Acknowledging that the person at the centre of the allegations was a member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), she said political affiliation should not prevent the President from addressing the matter.
“Yes, the person is a member of his party. But even if it is your child who has committed a crime against Ghana, you must speak up and let the people of Ghana know,” she said.
“If you spoke, I don’t think the police and these other institutions would be dilly-dallying and fooling around with what they are doing,” she added.