I cautioned Obuasi SHTS headmaster not to allow female students’ visits to quell perception about him in town – Kumasi Mayor

Kumasi Mayor Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi has disclosed that he cautioned the interdicted headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, against allowing female students to visit his residence after concerns were raised about his conduct.

Appearing before Parliament’s Local Government Committee, Mr Agyemang Boadi said he intervened after someone brought the alleged behaviour to his attention during a visit to Obuasi.

He explained that, having known the headmaster for several years, he felt the need to advise him to avoid actions that could worsen public perceptions about him in the community.

“I admonished him and asked him not to allow female students to come so that the perception being created about him in Obuasi would not be fuelled,” he said.

The Mayor’s remarks come amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving 19 female students of the school. The Ghana Education Service has interdicted Mr Abdulai pending investigations into the allegations.

Mr Agyemang Boadi also rejected claims that he was attempting to protect the headmaster from accountability, insisting that he had neither supervisory authority over him nor any influence over disciplinary decisions concerning his conduct.

“I don’t have any direct supervisory role over the headmaster. I don’t have anything to do with whether he was going to be sanctioned or not. So I cannot, with any shred of imagination, be covering him up,” he said.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka has disclosed that Mr Abdulai was arrested as part of the police investigation into the allegations.