BOGISS Abuse Case: National PTA Demands Full Accountability
The National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations has demanded full accountability under Ghanaian law following the reported sexual abuse of a 14-year-old student with autism at Bolgatanga Girls’ Senior High School.
In a statement dated August 20, 2026 and signed by its General Secretary, Gapson Kofi Raphael, the Council, while commending the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service and the Upper East Regional Police Command for their response so far, insisted that the matter must be pursued to its logical conclusion without compromise.
The NCPTAs is demanding a two-pronged approach to justice covering administrative accountability and criminal prosecution.
On administrative accountability, the Council is calling on the Ghana Education Service to ensure that the two interdicted watchmen, Elvis Adongo, 38, and Adams Nyaaba Iddrisu, 72, who have been arrested by the police, are dismissed in accordance with the GES Code of Conduct and debarred from public service.
It is further demanding an immediate nationwide vetting and audit of all security personnel and other non-teaching staff in schools covering age, background checks and fitness for duty, the institution of mandatory child protection and safeguarding training with specific modules for handling students with special educational needs, and a review of recruitment practices to ensure schools are staffed with personnel who can effectively safeguard students.
The Council said it was deeply disturbed that one of the suspects is a 72-year-old man engaged as a school security officer and questioned the justification for employing a person of retirement age in a role that demands vigilance, strength and sound judgment, stating that schools must not be a dumping ground for public service retirees and calling on GES to sanitize its space and engage strong, alert and vibrant youth of character and integrity who are properly vetted and trained.
On criminal prosecution, the Council said the matter goes beyond internal discipline and constitutes a criminal offence against a child.
It called on the Attorney-General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary to ensure diligent prosecution under Section 101 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29, which deals with defilement of a child under 16 years, the Children’s Act, 1998, Act 560, on protection of children from abuse and exploitation, and Article 28 of the 1992 Constitution which guarantees the right of every child to protection from physical and moral harm.
The Council insisted that there should be no plea bargains and no delays, stressing that justice must be seen to be done.
The Council said Ghanaian parents are shocked and heartbroken by the incident, noting that where adults are supposed to be custodians, not predators, of children and the vulnerable, such an act violates the very foundation of society.
It reaffirmed that no child, particularly a child with special needs, can be held responsible for sexual abuse perpetrated by an adult and that the victim deserves protection, dignity and full support, not stigma.
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