Zakaria Abdulai, headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School, has resigned as the Juaben Constituency Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and withdrawn from the party’s constituency chairmanship contest amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving female students.

In a letter announcing his decision, Mr Abdulai said both his resignation and withdrawal from the chairmanship race take immediate effect.

His decision comes amid growing public scrutiny over the allegations, which have triggered investigations by the Ghana Education Service (GES) and a referral to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service for further investigation.

The development also follows deliberations by the NDC’s Functional Executive Committee (FEC) over his eligibility to participate in the party’s ongoing constituency elections.

In a statement issued on Monday, October 19, the party disclosed that it had initially considered asking Mr Abdulai to resign voluntarily or disqualifying him from the Juaben Constituency Chairmanship race.

However, after inviting him to present his side of the matter, the committee decided not to disqualify him at that stage.

The NDC said its decision followed consideration of a report by the GES investigative committee, a report by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni and a directive from the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, referring the allegations to the police CID.

The party explained that its position was guided by the principles of fairness, natural justice and the presumption of innocence while the allegations remained under criminal investigation.

Mr Abdulai has now opted to step down from his position as constituency secretary and abandon his bid for the chairmanship.

In his resignation letter, he expressed appreciation to friends, relatives and well-wishers who had supported him throughout the controversy, particularly those who continued to believe in his innocence.

“I wish to express my profound gratitude to my friends, relatives, and all well-wishers who have stood by me and maintained their faith in my innocence in the face of the allegations levelled against me and my office,” he said.

His resignation and withdrawal bring his participation in the NDC’s Juaben Constituency leadership contest to an end, as investigations into the allegations continue.