The New Patriotic Party’s Women’s Wing is marching in Obuasi on Friday, November 6, 2026, over alleged sexual abuse at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), as an advocacy coalition demands a legally backed National Sex Offenders Register and a national school-safety audit.
Led by National Women’s Organiser Mavis Hawa Koomson, the opposition group said it secured clearance from traditional authorities for a peaceful protest. Demonstrators plan to present petitions to the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, the Municipal Education Director, the Parent-Teacher Association and the Ashanti Regional Minister, with copies for Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang and the Inspector-General of Police.
Koomson said that if nothing is heard within 14 days, the wing will organise another march in Accra. She described the alleged failure of care toward students as catastrophic and asked investigators to check whether school and district officials neglected earlier complaints.
What investigators and schools have already done
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu ordered the suspension of headmaster Zakaria Abdulai on October 13 and referred the matter to the police CID. The Ghana Education Service interdicted him on October 14 and later directed Ashanti Regional, Obuasi Municipal and Obuasi East education directors to step aside so they could not interfere with the inquiry.
Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on October 20 that Abdulai had been arrested and cautioned, and that Police Headquarters in Accra had taken over the inquiry. Bekwai Police have forwarded a docket on one formal complaint — lodged on August 4 — to the Attorney-General’s Department for advice on prosecution. ASP Lloyd Baidoo said Abdulai was granted police inquiry bail and remains at home while investigators await formal complaints on other alleged incidents.
A JoyNews investigation by Manasseh Azure Awuni reported that complaints had reached education and municipal authorities months before the ministerial suspension. A separate GES committee looking at August 2026 campus disturbances said sexual-harassment claims before it were not substantiated on the limited evidence then presented; that finding has been sharply contested by critics of how earlier reports were handled.
Party politics and the accused’s position
On November 3, NDC General Secretary Fifi Kwetey said the governing party was wrong to clear Abdulai for a Juaben constituency chairmanship race before seeing the evidence. The NDC rescinded that clearance on October 20 after the documentary aired; Abdulai resigned as Juaben Constituency Secretary and withdrew from the race.
Abdulai denies all the allegations. None has been tested in court. He has said he will pursue every lawful avenue to clear his name.
What the coalition wants next
The National Coalition for Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values, in a statement signed by Executive Secretary Moses Foh-Amoaning, wants the Attorney-General to lead legislation for a National Sex Offenders Register and background checks for jobs involving children. It also seeks an independent national safeguarding audit covering reporting channels, boarding supervision, confidential counselling and anonymised public data on complaints and outcomes.
“No child should have to seek permission from a potential abuser to report abuse,” the coalition said. GhEcho will update this story as police, the Attorney-General and the GES release further official word.