The Gowrie Senior High/Technical School in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana experienced a dramatic incident on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Teachers forcibly chased out headmistress Elizabeth Zinye Paaga, accusing her of autocratic leadership and embezzlement of school funds. These funds were collected following a student riot in 2021, where each student was charged 109 Ghana cedis for damages. However, the headmistress has not accounted for these funds.
Students initiated another riot in July 2025, prompting the formation of a committee to investigate the issues. Since the committee’s inception, authorities have not released any official statement regarding the allegations against the headmistress.
On Friday, December 12, 2025, Mrs. Elizabeth Zinye Paaga returned to the school accompanied by a food supplier to sign a new contract, without informing the interim leaders tasked with managing the school during the ongoing investigation. Her entrance angered staff and prompted students to riot again, shouting for her removal from the school.
The district director of education of Bongo and a police commander arrived at the scene to manage the situation, rescuing the headmistress, who had been locked in her office out of fear for her safety. Teachers accused her of stealing documents from the office and demanded she leave the premises without them.
Further accusations emerged regarding the diversion of food supplies—including mackerels, gallons of oil, and bags of rice—from the school storeroom to an undisclosed location without notifying the storekeeper.
In an exclusive statement, Mr. Maclean Ayamga, a teacher at the school, explained, “They massed up again because they want to know why they still don’t get fed. For some time now, they have not eaten meat, while other schools elsewhere do. So, if they challenge the headmistress here, those are the questions I want to pose to her. But as a teacher, I won’t allow the headmistress to come out and tell the students, as the students have requested. So, other teachers and I managed to disperse the students so that we as teachers could have a more civil discussion about her coming than when she was still under investigation.
He continued, a committee was set to investigate the issues, and as teachers, we haven’t seen any report. So, to the best of our knowledge, the committee is still under investigation. In my opinion, the headmistress cannot just come into the school without the permission of those who are managing it on her behalf. The government is not aware, the teacher in charge of academics is not aware, and the teacher in charge of administration is in the hospital. So, under what basis and how did she just come in and have access to her office.
“A committee was set to investigate the umpash, as a teacher, we haven’t seen any report, So, to the best of our knowledge, the committee is still under investigation. So, to my own candidate opinion, the headmisstress cannot just come [into the school] without the permission of those who are managing the school and her behalf.
And the government is not aware, [the teacher in charge of ] academics is not aware, [the teacher in charge of the]administration is in the hospital, [and he is not aware], and so on. So, under what basis and how did she just come in and have access to her office” he said.
Mr. Ayamga also noted that since she departed from the office on July 22, 2025, the staff has been puzzled over her unexpected return. There are speculations that the committee may have finished its report, and questions loom about what the authorities are doing with it. This issue has lingered since July, and he mentioned he read a story on social media where the Bongo District Chief Executive lamented the absence of the headmistress and expressed uncertainty about the committee’s findings.
Mr. Michael Ayamdor, the district director of education in Bongo, declined to speak to the media after rescuing the headmistress for her own safety.
Source: mywordfmonline.com/ Gaspard Adongo Ayuureneeya.