The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has warned that Obuasi Senior High Technical School headmaster Zakaria Abdulai could face disciplinary action if ongoing investigations establish substantial evidence linking him to the sexual abuse allegations against him.
The party’s Deputy General Secretary, Mustapha Gbande, said the decision to allow Abdulai to contest the Obuasi constituency chairmanship election did not amount to an exoneration, stressing that the party would act on the outcome of the investigations.
He said the party would continue to monitor the investigative processes initiated by the Education Minister and the Ghana Education Service (GES), with the findings informing its final decision on Abdulai’s political future.
Speaking on Joy News on Monday, October 19, Mr Gbande said the party’s leadership had decided to reconsider an earlier directive barring Abdulai from contesting after hearing his side of the matter.
According to him, Abdulai appeared before the party’s Functional Executive Committee to respond to the allegations, which the leadership considers serious.
He said the party had to balance the public interest surrounding the allegations with the need to protect the rights of the individual while the relevant investigative procedures continued.
“As much as we are dealing with the public interest nature of the issues, we don’t also jeopardise the rights of the person who is involved. We want to make sure that the processes are run properly,” he said.
Mr Gbande explained that the party did not want to interfere with or pre-empt the investigations being conducted by the Education Ministry and the GES.
He added that Abdulai had informed the party that he had issued writs against some individuals connected to the matter, another development the leadership would consider as it assessed the case.
The NDC deputy general secretary confirmed that Abdulai could now file his nomination and proceed with the constituency chairmanship contest despite the unresolved allegations.
“He can now file and proceed,” he said.
However, Mr Gbande emphasised that the clearance was procedural and should not be interpreted as the party dismissing the allegations or reaching a conclusion on Abdulai’s culpability.
He said the party’s General Secretary would monitor developments throughout the investigative process and report relevant findings to the leadership.
“The National Executive Committee also informed him that we’ll be monitoring the process. Anytime that anything points to quite substantial evidence of his involvement in this, given the nature of the investigations that are going to be carried, the party will call him back,” he added.
Mr Gbande said the party could take action even before the investigations were completed if sufficiently compelling evidence emerged against Abdulai.
He stressed that any eventual decision would be guided by the NDC’s constitution and the public interest.
The party also expressed concern about the need to protect children and restore public confidence in the country’s educational institutions, insisting that the facts must be established through the appropriate investigative procedures.
Abdulai, a long-serving constituency secretary, is seeking to become the NDC’s constituency chairman in Obuasi.
