A teachers’ union leader says 38 teachers at Obuasi Senior High Technical School were told to leave after they spoke against the headmaster at the center of sexual abuse allegations.
National Association of Graduate Teachers President Jacob Anaba made the claim Monday, Oct. 19, on Joy News’ “PM Express.” He said the instruction followed a fact-finding committee chaired by the district director of education, who he alleged told the assistant headmaster to pass the message to the staff. Anaba asked what justification there could possibly be.
The claim has not been independently verified. Reports available Tuesday showed no public response to it from the Ghana Education Service.
Anaba went further. He alleged that the district director knew about complaints against headmaster Zakaria Abdulai and did nothing. Reports of abuse at the school, he said, reached back to 2025, and it took the anger of students to push the matter into public view.
His verdict on the headmaster was blunt. “This man should leave immediately,” Anaba said, pointing to the duty of care teachers owe the children in their classrooms.
Politics drew his anger too. On the same program, Deputy General Secretary Mustapha Gbande of the ruling National Democratic Congress said Abdulai could file to contest the party’s constituency chairmanship in Juaben while investigations continue. Gbande said the decision followed the headmaster’s appearance before the party’s Functional Executive Committee. Anaba said that if the party lets him run, “we have lost all our values.”
JoyNews investigative correspondent Manasseh Azure Awuni earlier reported that Abdulai is the party’s Juaben constituency secretary and that posters for the chairmanship bid had already gone up. Adom News reported that the constituency delegates’ conference is expected before the end of the year.
The government moved after Awuni’s documentary, “Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow.” Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu directed Abdulai’s suspension on Oct. 13 and asked police Criminal Investigations Department headquarters to open a probe. The Ghana Education Service interdicted him the next day and ordered him to hand the school to the Ashanti regional director. Service spokesman Daniel Fenyi said the step was meant to protect the investigation. An interdiction is administrative and does not establish wrongdoing.
JoyNews reported allegations involving more than 14 female students. The education policy group Eduwatch put the figure at no fewer than 16 and said school and municipal officials received complaints months earlier, including a February petition from the school’s Girl Child Coordinator and safeguarding officer.
The school was already in turmoil. On Aug. 5, students attacked Abdulai after claiming to have found a buried fetus near campus and accusing him of ritual activity. He suffered machete wounds and was later discharged from hospital. The school closed temporarily. Police charged two teachers with abetment in August over accusations that they incited the students. A regional Ghana Education Service committee later recommended reposting the headmaster and other staff implicated in the riot, and headquarters has yet to decide. Published reports do not make clear whether the 38 teachers Anaba mentioned are connected to either matter.
Obuasi SHTS was still closed in the latest reports. Education officials have floated Oct. 28 as a reopening date, according to the Adansi Akwamuhene. The allegations against Abdulai remain unproven and under investigation.
