Obuasi SHTS: What probe found about allegation of buried baby against headmaster

A committee investigating the August 2026 disturbances at Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS) has found no direct evidence that headmaster Zakaria Abdulai buried a foetus on the school compound or that his vehicle was present at the burial site.

The nine-member committee said none of the students or teachers who appeared before it witnessed the headmaster burying the remains, while evidence indicated that the site could not be accessed by vehicle.

“Consequently, the Committee found that the allegation that the Headmaster personally buried the baby or that his vehicle was present at the burial site was not substantiated by direct evidence,” the report stated.

The unrest on August 4 followed the discovery of what appeared to be a baby’s remains on the school grounds. The headmaster was subsequently assaulted, and school and personal property were damaged.

According to the report, students first reported the discovery to housemasters around midday, but the allegation linking Abdulai to the burial emerged later that night.

The committee established that the assistant headmaster in charge of domestic affairs led a team that exhumed the remains at about 10.30 pm and reburied them before informing the headmaster of the discovery around 11.30 pm.

The inquiry also dismissed an account that Abdulai had emerged from the bush and secretly handed a cutlass to a student. It found that he gave the cutlass to the student in the presence of students and teachers, instructing him to deliver it to a mechanic working on his private vehicle.

However, the committee said its investigation was hampered by teachers’ refusal to identify the students who initially discovered the site or accompanied them there.

Beyond the allegations, the report identified weak security, staff divisions, student gangs and a breakdown of trust between the headmaster and sections of the school community.