Former Member of Parliament for Amenfi Central, Peter Kwakye Ackah, has called on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to disqualify the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School, Zakaria Abdulai, from contesting the party’s upcoming constituency elections, saying his candidacy would bring disgrace to the party.
Mr Abdulai, who is accused of sexually abusing about 16 students at the school, is contesting the chairmanship of the NDC’s Juaben constituency.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Nnawɔtwe Yi on Saturday, October 17, Mr Ackah said party membership should not protect him.
“Nobody should shield such a person after he has raped someone’s child just because he’s a party member,” Mr Ackah said.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has interdicted Mr Abdulai following a JoyNews investigation by Manasseh Azure Awuni, and a complaint has been lodged with the police. The allegations remain subject to investigation.
Mr Ackah urged the constituency vetting committee to bar Zakaria from the race.
“I am appealing to the constituency vetting committee not to allow such a person lead the party; he will collapse the party.”
He also asked the party’s national leadership to ensure that Mr Abdulai is suspended from the NDC, adding that there was no justification for what the headmaster is alleged to have done.
The former MP said suspension alone is not enough and called on the President, the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, and the Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak to get involved.
“I’m appealing to the president to take it up and give the order to the minister. Haruna, you must not sit on this at all.”
Mr Ackah also faulted the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, saying she failed to handle the matter properly after one victim’s family approached her.
“The girl is even ashamed to come out so since her parents have come to you, why didn’t you take action… what is happening?”
He said the student unrest that brought the case to public attention was not wrong, arguing that the students took matters into their own hands because they saw that the law was not working.
Such actions, he warned, will become the order of the day, if the law keeps failing. The GES has said the unrest led to the destruction of school property and the temporary closure of the school.