Minister stops transfer of 'bonking' teachers

The decision by the Bolgatanga Municipal Director for Education to transfer two male teachers of the Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School (BOGISS) in the Upper East Region for their alleged involvement in a sex crime and one female teacher of same school for assaulting two girls of the institution has hit a stalemate, as the Regional Minister, Mr. Albert Abongo, has asked the GES boss to suspend the transfer.

It will be recalled that last week, The Chronicle reported that Mr. Madision Amokase Anane, Bolgatanga Municipal director for the Ghana Education Service (GES), after receiving the report of the disciplinary committee he constituted to look into the alleged sex and assault crimes, was not enthused about the recommendations prescribed by the committee and subsequently recommended the transfer of the teachers.

But in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Abongo revealed that he had directed the GES director to suspend the transfer of the teachers until he and his deputy, as well as the Regional Coordinating Director, had studied the committee’s report before a definite action could be taken.

He further disclosed that he had studied the report and forwarded same to his deputy, Dr. Robert Kuganab-Lem, who has also studied it and given it to the Regional Coordinating Director for him to also read it.

The minister said when the report is brought back to him, he would then discuss its content with his deputy and director before inviting the Municipal and Regional Directors of Education, committee members and the headmistress of BOGISS to review it before a final decision is taken.

Mr. Abongo revealed that even before the committee completed its findings, the two male teachers had called on him and reported that they suspected there would be no fairness in the judgment of the committee. However, he also asked them to hold on since the committee was yet to complete its work.

Mbamalia, one of the affected teachers had told A1 Radio in Bolgatanga that though they were yet to receive an official notice of their transfer as reported in the media, it was his conviction that the transfer punishment was a calculated attempt by some individuals to malign him and his colleague, Mr. Alex Dewura and derelict their integrity.

According to him, even though the report of the committee was yet to be made public, their checks revealed that the committee did not find them culpable because the two students denied the existence of any intimate relationship.

Meanwhile, information available to The Chronicle suggests that the Minister’s directive for the suspension of the teachers’ transfer will face a stiff opposition from the Municipal Director who many describe as “no nonsense man”.