The Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) released a report after investigating the August 2026 protest at Obuasi Senior High Technical School. The inquiry found that teacher factions and student gangs have eroded discipline, staff cohesion and the school’s administration.
Teacher groups named “Parliament”, “Caucus” and “Man never is” were identified, while student groups called “4KT”, “Stitches” and “More than Family” were highlighted as contributing to unrest. The committee noted that long‑standing members of the Caucus group had repeatedly opposed the headmaster’s reforms, creating tension among staff.
It also warned that the student gangs could encourage misconduct and threaten safety, stating that “these groupings have the potential to promote indiscipline, intimidation and violent behaviour among students.” The findings stem from disturbances on Tuesday, 4 August 2026, when the headmaster was assaulted and property was damaged following the discovery of a baby’s remains on campus.
According to the report, the school’s challenges cannot be traced to a single incident or individual. Instead, weak security, staff factionalism, resistance to administrative reforms, poor controls on student movement and a breakdown of trust within the community were cited as key factors.
To address these issues, the committee recommended dissolving informal student groups, including “4KT”, “Stitches”, “Old Blog” and “More than Family”, and urged management to prevent the formation of similar groups that could undermine school authority. It also called for the derecognition of unauthorised staff associations to stop them becoming parallel centres of influence.
The report proposed creating a more spacious staff common room to foster interaction in a formal setting, and suggested reviewing and reconstituting school committees, boards, task teams and internal appointments to restore confidence and ensure balanced representation.
The nine‑member committee was inaugurated on 11 August to investigate the demonstration, the headmaster’s conduct and related matters. These findings are separate from a fresh investigation launched by GES following a JoyNews inquiry into another allegation of sexual abuse against the headmaster.
Moving forward, GES will monitor the implementation of the committee’s recommendations and assess the impact on school stability and student safety.
