The Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Ahafo Region has launched an investigation into an alleged sexual misconduct involving a security officer at Mim Senior High School and a female student. The case has generated concern in the Mim community following allegations that the security officer approached the student and asked her to engage in sexual activity.
According to a Citi report, the allegation prompted an angry reaction from some residents, with some youth reportedly assaulting the security officer after learning of the incident. The GES has since taken steps to establish the facts surrounding the allegation, including interviewing both the security officer and the student. The Asunafo North Municipal Director of the GES, Samuel Jatong Larri, confirmed that the Service is investigating the matter and said the two parties had given their accounts of what allegedly occurred.
He said the female student was interviewed in the presence of both her parents as part of measures to ensure that her account was obtained appropriately and that her welfare remained a priority. “We interviewed the security man. We also interviewed the girl in question in the presence of her mother and the father. So the security man narrated his side of it. The girl also did the same thing,” Mr Larri said. He explained that the accounts obtained from the two parties were being compiled into a report for submission to the Ahafo Regional Director of Education. “So we are putting the reports together…we will forward it to the regional director,” he said.
Mr Larri stressed that the investigation was intended to establish the circumstances surrounding the allegation before the GES takes any further action. He said the welfare and protection of the student remained a major consideration in the process, particularly given the potential psychological impact of such an incident on a young person. “When it happens like this, the girl is our main focus. We are focused on how to protect the girl in terms of psychological trauma that she would be going through.”
The GES has not, at this stage, made a determination on whether the alleged misconduct occurred. The investigation is expected to guide any administrative or other action that may be considered appropriate. The reported assault on the security officer by some youth has also raised concerns about the need for allegations of sexual misconduct involving students to be handled through due process rather than through retaliatory violence. The GES is expected to consider the accounts gathered from both parties, together with other relevant information, before reaching a conclusion on the matter.
By: Joyce Owusu
