Following allegations of sexual abuse against female students of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) in the Ashanti Region by the school’s headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, new reports reveal that he is a serving constituency secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and an aspirant for a chairmanship position.
According to JoyNews’ Investigative Correspondent, Manasseh Azure, he learnt about the headmaster’s political position while filming his latest documentary in the community.
He indicated that the headmaster intends to contest the chairmanship at the party’s constituency delegates’ conference, expected before the end of the year.
“This man [the headmaster], we are told, is the Juabeng Constituency Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress, and there are posters of him wanting to contest for the constituency chairman,” he claimed.
Manasseh revealed that based on his interaction with people in the community, it suggests the sexual assault was widely known in the community.
“So, a former NDC constituency executive who spoke to me, Frederick Addai, says that, anytime the issue [the alleged sexual assault] came up, some members of the party tried to come together and tried to calm tempers and get the issues resolved,” he stated.
Manasseh confirmed that despite local and regional school officials knowing about the reports, they failed to act. He suggested that the headmaster is using his position of power to secure protection from influential figures.
The headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, is the subject of the documentary, Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow, which examines allegations of sexual abuse involving female students.
On October 13, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu directed the Ghana Education Service to suspend Mr. Abdulai pending a full investigation. The Minister also requested an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service.
Source: Daily Guide
