I suppose nearly nine out of ten people who have gone through the boarding school system would readily recount their ordeal and never stop.
This piece goes beyond merely telling my side of the story and probably the trauma of several other colleagues. This article seeks to briefly situate, in proper context, the thousand and one “stabs” junior students have to endure and why a “Whistleblower Act” is the way to go.
Situation
Students in the third and second years of second-cycle institutions, as we have heard in the terrible incident involving a student in an alleged murder, bully their fellow students with impunity. By way of recap, Sam’un Larhan, 15, was stabbed with a knife by his colleague after he attempted to resolve a scuffle between the suspect and his mates. Emmanuel Frimpong, 17, was bullying some form-one students and upon resistance by some students, he stabbed Larhan Sam’un to death. These statements were made known by the District Police Commander for Konongo, DSP Osei Adu Agyemang. This incident raises the larger question of whether there are any hard-and-fast rules regarding bullying in Ghanaian schools.
There are indeed hard-and-fast rules about breaking laws that endanger the human rights of a person in Ghana. The Whistleblower Act, 2006 Act 720, is to provide for the manner in which individuals may, in the public interest, disclose information that relates to unlawful or other illegal conduct or corrupt practices of others; to provide for the protection against victimisation of persons who make these disclosures; to provide for a fund to reward individuals who make the disclosures; and to provide for related matters. A whistleblower is essentially a person who makes a disclosure of impropriety: a failure to observe standards of honesty or modesty; improper behaviour or character.
It is rather unfortunate that the Whistleblower Act has been gathering dust on the shelves of the Assembly Press for so long. By parity of reasoning, the Act may be fully applicable in the school system.
Had a PR campaign been launched for awareness creation on this act by present and erstwhile governments, the impunity with which students endanger the lives of their fellow students wouldn’t have needlessly claimed a life. The law on the Whistleblower Act, 2006 Act 720, is clear and spells out a good number of laws that could actually prevent needless bullying situations in our schools. In the school scheme of things, a whistleblower may extend from the headteacher to the cleaner, if there is one in school space.
Whistleblower Act
The Whistleblower Act, 2006 Act 720, Section (1) and subsections 1(b), (c), and (f) state that:
1. Disclosure of impropriety
(1) A person may disclose the information if the person has reasonable grounds to believe that the information tends to show that
(b) another person has not complied with the law, is in the process of breaking a law, or is likely to break a law that imposes an obligation on that person;
(c) a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur; or
(f) an individual’s or a community’s health or safety is endangered, has been endangered,…
Many students in the lower forms or classes have persistently been stabbed everywhere in their physical bodies. They have literally been stabbed in the head by excessive knocks. They have persistently been stabbed in the ear by threatening word of mouth. The same holds true for the knees, the stomach, and so forth. These students are made to kneel down for long hours and starve until the perpetrator gets satisfied. In a broader context, one can choose a whole host of examples here in terms of a “stab.”
The law is clear on whom a person in a school setting may report any given impropriety as regards Section (3) of the Whistleblower Act. It states that:
(1) disclosure of impropriety may be made to any one or more of the following:
(a) an employer of the whistleblower;
(b) a police officer;
(c) the Attorney-General;
(d) the Auditor-General;
(e) a staff of the Intelligence Agencies;
(f) a member of Parliament;
(g) the Serious Fraud Office;
(h) the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice;
(i) the National Media Commission;
(j) the Narcotic Control Board;
(k) a chief;
(l) the head or an elder of the family of the whistleblower;
(m) a head of a recognised religious body;
(n) a member of a District Assembly;
(o) a Minister of State;
(p) the Office of the President;
(q) the Revenue Agencies Governing Board; or
(r) a District Chief Executive.
It is instructive to note that the “Employer” as stated in subsection 1 (a) of section (3) refers to “School Heads”. Given the mode of communication, the Whistleblower may, according to sections 4 & 5 do the following:
(1) A disclosure may be made in writing or orally.
(2) The disclosure shall contain as far as practicable
(a) the full name, address and occupation of the whistleblower;
(b) the nature of the impropriety in respect of which the disclosure is made;
(c) the person alleged to have committed, who is committing or is about to commit the impropriety;
(d) the time and place where the alleged impropriety is taking place, took place or is likely to take place;
(e) the full name, address and description of a person who witnessed the commission of the impropriety if there is such a person;
(f) whether the whistleblower has made a disclosure of the same or of some other impropriety on a previous occasion and if so, about whom and to whom the disclosure was made; and
(g) if the person is an employee making a disclosure about that person’s employer or a fellow employee, whether the whistleblower remains in the same employment.
5. Reduction of disclosure into writing
(1) Where a whistleblower makes a disclosure orally, the person to whom the disclosure is made shall cause the disclosure to be reduced into writing containing the same particulars as are specified in subsection (2) of section 4.
There are several others sections that clearly define rewards and whatnot. I may want to fully explore the Whistleblower Act, 2006 Act 720, but, the above-mentioned sections do justice to the crux of the Act.
Need for PR Campaign
For the record, this maltreatment is totally unacceptable and not backed by any law whatsoever. By parity of reasoning, perpetrators of such acts go on bullying sprees in their hideouts. It is about time we stop playing the ostrich, develop and align solutions on a long-shot strategy to solve the bullying rot in our schools. It is about time the Ministry of Education (MoE) through the Ghana Education Service (GES) up its game by way of incorporating a Whistleblower Act in its set of rules.
There is a PR deficit in terms of enforcing this Act of Parliament to gain public support and acceptance. Meanwhile, this could easily be achieved through a PR Campaign launched by the Service. Facts Sheets and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) may be designed and distributed to schools. This effort, my candid opinion, is likely to crack the whip on unscrupulous persons in the school system that persistently endanger the lives of others.
More so, students must be encouraged to be forthcoming with first-hand information and whereabouts of bullying sprees in, around and outside dormitories. That said, the Whistleblowers Act as enshrined in law must reward, protect and not blow the veil off the Whistleblower in the school setting. Plus, all the rules and regulations as set out by the Ghana Education Service ( must be reinforced to crack the whip on these recalcitrant students. There is a real reason to be concerned and this is definitely a good time to not rest on our oars and leave bullying to chance.
My heart goes out to the bereaved family of Larhan Sam’un.
Jerry Avornyotse is a freelance journalist, writer, and PR Intern/Researcher with the Ministry of Roads and Highways. Twitter: twitter.com/jerr_avornyotse/
