Political aide to Dr Bawumia, Kofi Tonto has warned that violent incidents and hooliganism among senior high school students will continue — and possibly intensify — unless education and security authorities modernise their approaches to prevention and discipline.
Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews, Mr Tonto argued that as Ghanaian youth increasingly access sophisticated technology and global media, crime “will also advance,” and traditional disciplinary systems are no longer sufficient. “As we modernise and advance, crime will also advance. The degree of violence will advance. It is natural,” he said.
“So, how are we also putting in place the procedures and mechanisms to combat them?” His remarks come amid rising concerns over violent behaviour during school sporting events and competitions across the country.
At a Regional Super Zonal Sports Competition held from February 4–6, 2026, the Ghana Education Service (GES) confirmed a stabbing and an alleged gang-rape involving students from different senior high schools in the Eastern Region.
The service condemned the acts and said they “have no place within the Ghana Education Service.”
In response, GES banned Koforidua Senior High Technical School, New Juaben Senior High School and New Nsutam Senior High Technical School from all sports, debates, cadetting and entertainments for two years and fined each school GH¢500 for “acts of hooliganism.”
More recently, a District Schools Athletics Games in Agona Swedru on February 19 also ended in violence, with a student from Obrachire Senior High Technical School hospitalised after being pelted with stones and beaten with sticks during a clash with peers from the Swedru School of Business.
Police have launched an investigation into the incident, which was captured in viral social media footage and widely condemned. “This pattern is worrying,” Mr Tonto said.
“If you don’t advance your preventive methods of combating crime, these things will continue.” He questioned the adequacy of current GES rules, asking whether they are “modern enough” to address the scale and sophistication of today’s student violence.
Mr Tonto also cautioned against over-emphasis on traditional solutions such as teacher-to-student ratios without professional training in crowd management and intelligence.
“You need to bring people who are professionally trained to engage them in a professional manner,” he said, suggesting that police, National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) officers and security personnel could play roles in preventive oversight.
Mr Tonto also highlighted the influence of social media and international crime videos, suggesting that exposure may shape some young people’s behaviour.
“A young Ghanaian sitting in Ghana sees that level of sophisticated crime… What do you think that young person who has a terrible mens rea will do? They will learn that as a new way of committing crime,” he said.
Referencing scholar Ali Mazrui, he warned of “Westernisation without real modernisation” — adopting technology and cultural influences without building the institutional capacity to manage their effects.
“If we don’t take that step of deliberately modernising to match the level of sophistication of our young people, trust me, this is going to get worse,” he said.
