Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi, has recounted his encounter with the suspended headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, following rumours of alleged sexual abuse involving female students.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Mr Boadi said he first heard the allegations during a weekend visit to Obuasi, where he is an indigene.
He said he subsequently contacted the school’s senior housemistress, who also shared rumours she had heard about the headmaster.
According to him, he advised the school authorities to prevent female students from visiting the headmaster’s bungalow while the allegations remained unresolved.
“If the allegations were only rumours against the headmaster, I suggested that the girls should not be allowed to go to his bungalow. They could allow only the male students to go there to work,” he recounted.
Mr Boadi said he also contacted Mr Abdulai, who denied the allegations and explained that he was facing resistance over efforts to enforce discipline at the school.
“He told me he was trying to instil discipline, but some people were resisting him, which he believed had led to the allegations. I also advised him not to allow female students into his bungalow,” the Mayor said.
He added that the headmaster visited his office three days later to thank him for the advice.
However, Mr Boadi said the rumours persisted, prompting him to contact the Ashanti Regional Director of Education to suggest that the headmaster be removed.
He said the Regional Director informed him that investigations were underway but that no concrete evidence had been established at the time.
According to Mr Boadi, the Regional Director also suggested that the allegations could be linked to resistance against new standards the headmaster was introducing at the school.
The Mayor said he didn’t hear anything about the issue, until the recent interdiction by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
The headmaster’s suspension comes amid investigations into allegations of sexual abuse involving students of the school.
