Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has warned politicians against shielding persons accused of sexual offences against children, saying political leaders who trivialise such cases will face serious consequences.
He expressed concern over attempts by some politicians to support the suspect in the alleged sexual abuse case at the Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, to contest for a leadership position, describing the development as offensive.
“People even dared to try to support the suspect to contest for a leadership position. That is how offensive it has gone, and we should not indulge in such things at all,” he said on the floor of Parliament.
Mr. Bagbin was commenting to a statement by the Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, who called for the urgent establishment of a National Sex Offenders Register to protect children and other vulnerable persons.
The Speaker said Ghana had made significant commitments to protecting children’s rights through international treaties, the 1992 Constitution and the Children’s Act, 1998, but had failed to translate those commitments into adequate action.
He described the country’s performance in protecting children as “very abysmal” and said the proposed register was a step in the right direction.
Mr. Bagbin condemned attempts to settle sexual offences against children outside the formal justice system, insisting that such matters must not be treated as minor offences that could be resolved through family or community arrangements.
He said the attitude of treating such offences as negligible had encouraged interference in cases and prevented the law from taking its course.
The Speaker consequently directed the Ministers for Environment, Science and Technology and Gender and Children to collaborate with the Attorney General and Minister for Justice to review and update existing legislation on children’s rights.
He said Parliament’s Legislation Drafting Department could assist in preparing a draft document for consideration by the Attorney General, stressing that the proposed reforms required government leadership because they would involve a public bill.
Mr. Bagbin said he expected the revised legislation to be advanced and passed in the course of next year, adding that he would follow up on the directive to ensure its implementation.
He also called for tougher sanctions against offenders, saying the establishment of a register alone would not be sufficient to address the problem.
The Member of Parliament for Salaga South, Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah, also raised concerns about attempts by community leaders and politicians to interfere in the Obuasi case.
She said complaints of sexual harassment by students had allegedly been ignored for a long time before disturbances at the school on August 4 and 5 brought the matter to public attention.
Ms. Ibrahimah commended the media for bringing the allegations to light, saying the case demonstrated the need for a register to prevent alleged offenders from moving from one community to another without proper monitoring.
She said she was concerned that the headmaster, Zakaria Abdulai, had been interdicted by the Ghana Education Service but could move freely within another community while investigations and other processes continued.
The Majority Leader, James Agalga, supported the call for the register, explaining that courts already maintained records of convictions and that appropriate legislation could require sex-related convictions to be extracted and maintained separately.
He urged the Speaker to refer the matter to the Attorney General for the necessary legislative action, so Parliament could urgently enact a law to provide the framework for the register.
In her statement, Dr. Agyeman-Rawlings disclosed that Ghana recorded 1,132 defilement cases and 297 rape cases in 2025, alongside other related offences, bringing the total to 1,462 registered cases.
She said the figures represented only reported cases and warned that many victims could remain silent because of fear, intimidation, stigma and pressure from families and communities.
The proposed register, she said, would support accountability and background checks, particularly for people seeking employment in positions that involve teaching, supervising or caring for children.
She also urged religious and traditional leaders and other influential persons to stop intervening at police stations to seek the discontinuation of cases involving sexual offences against children.
Prosecution Of Suspects
Earlier on, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, told Parliament that investigations into allegations of the sexual abuse involving students of the Obuasi Senior High Technical School were 85 percent complete, with prosecution expected to commence shortly.
He said the weight of evidence gathered so far suggested that a prima facie case had been established against the suspect and some individuals for prosecution.
Mr. Iddrisu said he had made this known when he appeared before a joint sitting of Parliament’s Committees on Human Rights, Gender, and Education to brief members on developments surrounding the alleged abuse at the school.
According to him, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service was handling the criminal aspects of the matter, particularly allegations of sexual assault against the students.
He explained that a committee constituted by the Ministry of Education on October 14 to investigate the incident had also made significant progress, completing about 85 percent of its work.
“The weight of evidence suggests that a court would have considered the matter that a prima facie case is established against [the suspect] for purposes of prosecution, which we expect to start shortly,” he told Parliament.
The minister expressed satisfaction with the progress of the investigations and assured Parliament that the processes were advancing towards the commencement of prosecution.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House