The Director of Policy Engagement and Partnerships at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Asante, has called for a taskforce to review protocols for handling sexual abuse allegations in schools, following reports of alleged sexual misconduct at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
He says the case exposes serious weaknesses in the systems designed to protect students and highlights the need for clear procedures to ensure that allegations are reported, investigated and addressed promptly.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, October 16, Dr Asante described the alleged institutional failures as “mind-boggling”, questioning why concerns reportedly raised before the student unrest at the school did not trigger decisive action.
His comments follow a directive by the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, for the Ghana Education Service (GES) to suspend the headmaster over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Dr Asante said the reported experiences of the affected students were particularly disturbing because of the potential lifelong psychological harm associated with sexual abuse.
He questioned why several layers of oversight, including teachers, school management, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and local authorities, had allegedly failed to ensure an effective response to the concerns.
According to him, the allegations reportedly persisted for about a year, yet it took an investigative documentary by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni to bring the matter to national attention.
He said the situation raised serious questions about whether existing reporting and accountability mechanisms within the education system were working effectively.
Dr Asante argued that a review of the protocols should establish how school authorities must respond when allegations of sexual abuse emerge, including the steps required to protect students from potential further harm.
He stressed that sexual assault allegations constitute potential criminal offences and should not be treated solely as administrative matters.
“Administratively, that’s all you can do, but this is a criminal matter, and you have to bring in the police to investigate,” he said, calling for law enforcement agencies to be involved in investigating such complaints.
He also expressed concern that previous interventions by the police and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), as he recalled, had not produced a satisfactory outcome.
Dr Asante further insisted that investigations into the Obuasi case must examine the allegations that reportedly prompted the students’ protest rather than concentrating exclusively on the unrest itself.
He said the reasons behind the protest and the students’ reaction were separate from the underlying allegations and both required appropriate attention.
The CDD-Ghana official warned that failing to investigate complaints thoroughly and hold those found culpable accountable could allow similar incidents to recur.
He also criticised what he perceived as a dismissive response to serious allegations, questioning whether Ghanaian society had become too accustomed to reports of abuse to demand decisive action.
Dr Asante said the case reflected a broader accountability problem, arguing that institutions must demonstrate that misconduct will not be overlooked, regardless of the position held by the person accused.
He called for the authorities to ensure that the allegations are properly investigated, the affected students are protected, and measures are introduced to prevent similar incidents in other schools.