The seven-member committee investigating the violent clashes between Sokode Senior High Technical School students and community members in Sokode, near Ho, has submitted its final report to the Volta Regional Minister, Mr. James Gunu.
The 42-page report, which was presented by the committee’s chairman, Mr. Alexander Mawusi Buadi, follows weeks of hearings involving 43 individuals. It revealed disturbing levels of student indiscipline, including drug abuse and unauthorized movement of students off campus.
The disturbances were triggered when a student allegedly snatched a mobile phone at a bar near the school. In an attempt to retrieve it, some youth from the town pursued the student onto the school premises. The situation escalated when students, reportedly wielding cutlasses, repelled the youth. That night, a group of students allegedly retaliated by storming the town and vandalizing properties. In response, enraged youth of the towns mobilized at dawn on February 23, 2025, and invaded the school, causing significant damage to facilities.
Presenting the report, Mr. Buadi said the committee uncovered major structural lapses within the school’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), School Board, and Student Representative Council (SRC). He estimated the cost of damages at GH₵175,000.
“The level of indiscipline among students is high and on the rise,” Mr. Buadi said. “Both Sokode Etoe and Gbogame communities bemoaned the operations of Manakura Bar, which encourages immoral activities involving minors and students. Another location called Miami, near the abattoir, is a hotspot for illicit drug use and other vices,” he added.
He further disclosed that the Manakura Bar and a local information centre in Sokode Gbogame operated without proper documentation. The committee recommended that culprits, both students and community members, be sanctioned and surcharged for damages. It also advised that the information centre should either regularize its operations or shut down, and that Manakura should be cleared of damage costs only if it can prove it operates legally.
Receiving the report, Mr. James Gunu commended the committee for its diligence and emphasized the broader significance of the findings. “From the information you have provided, it’s clear this report is not only relevant for Sokode SHTS. It should be made available in libraries of all senior high schools to help prevent similar incidents elsewhere,” he said.
He noted that drug use and student indiscipline were at the root of the riot and stressed the need for law enforcement to take up related issues, especially those involving student access to bars at night. “The lack of discipline that we experienced in that school made the investigative report essential for the school authorities and the PTA. The police must intervene where necessary. Students going out to bars late at night is detrimental to their academic progress,” he added.
The Minister announced that the report will be forwarded to the relevant agencies for actions to be taken.
Source: GBC