National Democratic Congress (NDC) General Secretary Fifi Fiavi Kwetey says the party reversed its earlier decision to allow suspended Obuasi Senior High Technical School headmaster Zakaria Abdulai to contest the Juaben constituency chairmanship after reviewing the full investigative materials released by journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni.
Mr. Kwetey acknowledged that the party had not comprehensively assessed the materials before taking its initial position on Mr. Abdulai’s candidacy.
“Soon after watching those Manasseh’s tapes, I mean, comprehensively, it was no doubt at all that our earlier decision needed to be changed, and that actually is what saw the change of the decision as you saw happen on Tuesday evening before midday,” he said.
The NDC had faced public criticism after its Functional Executive Committee initially cleared Mr. Abdulai to contest the constituency chairmanship despite ongoing investigations into allegations of sexual abuse.
The party subsequently reversed that position and directed him to step aside from the race to allow the CID of the Ghana Police Service to investigate the allegations without interference.
The NDC has said the decision does not determine whether the allegations are true.
Mr. Kwetey also condemned remarks made by an NDC communication officer who attempted to defend Mr Abdulai, insisting that the comments did not represent the party’s position on sexual abuse.
“I think one of our communication officers, in his attempt to want to defend, said things that absolutely must be condemned, that absolutely have nothing to do with this party,” he said.
He added that the NDC had consistently rejected sexual abuse and misconduct and that any officer whose comments contradicted that position was not speaking on behalf of the party.
“So any officer who misspoke clearly is not speaking on behalf of this party,” he said.
The case gained national attention following ‘Inside the Dreaded Headmaster’s Bungalow’, an investigative exposé by Manasseh Azure Awuni that examined allegations of sexual abuse involving female students at Obuasi SHTS.
The Education Ministry ordered Mr. Abdulai’s suspension pending investigations, while the police were asked to investigate the allegations.
The NDC’s reversal came amid heightened public scrutiny of the party’s initial decision to allow him to contest while the investigations were ongoing.
Mr. Kwetey said the party would not interfere with the probe and maintained that the truth must be established through the appropriate process.
