Minority Leader Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin has demanded that the government account for its handling of sexual abuse allegations involving 19 female students at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
He spoke at the Leaders’ press briefing in Parliament on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, as the House prepared to resume from recess. Hon. Afenyo-Markin questioned how the school and the police handled the students’ complaints, and he challenged the headmaster’s bail.
He announced that the Minority will file a motion and a question to bring the Education Minister before the House, and he argued that Parliament can examine the institutional response without deciding the guilt of the accused.
“We are not interested in this one-man action. We are interested in the very system that parents trust, and that has failed them.”
Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Hon. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Minority Leader Questions Handling of Obuasi Complaints
Hon Afenyo-Markin insisted that Parliament must look beyond the person accused. It should examine how school authorities received earlier complaints, what they did with them and whether every reported allegation was properly investigated. He asked who received those complaints and what happened once they reached the relevant authorities.
The questions build on earlier scrutiny. Eduwatch urged authorities to probe the abuse, and a later report argued that the Ghana Education Service failed the victims. For Hon. Afenyo-Markin, the central test is whether the institutions entrusted with protecting students responded before the case reached the public.
Hon Afenyo-Markin disclosed that 19 female students had reportedly lodged complaints, and he questioned how the police handled them. Each account deserves its own investigation, he stressed, including any that students reported earlier to school authorities or other officials.
“19 girls, one docket. Every complaint must be investigated, not only the one that reached the police.”
Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Hon. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Headmaster’s Bail Draws a Political Question
The Minority Leader also questioned why the headmaster at the centre of the allegations received self-recognisance bail in a case with serious accusations. He asked, “Is it because he’s an NDC member?”
He offered no evidence that political affiliation influenced the decision, so the remark stands as a question about the circumstances and not as a finding. The allegations against the headmaster remain unproven.
Hon. Afenyo-Markin argued that a pending legal case should not stop Parliament from examining institutional failures. He recalled that the Speaker accepted in September that a pending case does not automatically bar parliamentary oversight.
An inquiry into how the school and the authorities responded, he maintained, would not decide whether the accused is guilty. Parliament could investigate that conduct without interfering with the judicial process, in his view.
Hon Afenyo-Markin also called for stronger safeguards across the school system. Every school needs “a safe, confidential way for a student to report abuse,” he stated, and he insisted that every survivor should receive counselling and protection along with “the chance to finish her education.”
He argued that such systems should work before allegations become public, with students able to reach accessible channels and see their complaints handled promptly.
Minority to Summon the Education Minister
The Minority will pursue the matter through a motion and a question, Hon Afenyo-Markin announced, to require the Education Minister to appear before the House. He urged the government to treat the matter seriously and wants the Minister to “come to the House floor and share with us what the government is doing.”
The government has already made commitments. Education Minister Hon Haruna Iddrisu vowed that nobody will be shielded in the investigation and pledged trauma support for the victims. The Ministry has also vowed sanctions against directors who conceal abuse cases.
Whether those pledges satisfy the Minority will show once the House resumes and the motion reaches the floor. Hon. Afenyo-Markin wants the government to show that every complaint receives attention and that schools will protect students better in the future.
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