In the heart of the Adentan Municipality, Ashaley Botwe School Junction teems with life, its streets buzzing with commerce, its trotro stations humming with impatient engines, and its sidewalks brimming with traders whose livelihoods depend on the frenetic pulse of this urban crossroad. Yet beneath the vibrancy lies a deepening crisis. The very energy that gives this junction its economic vitality has become the source of its most pressing danger: the breakdown of security around the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools. In this intersection of learning and lawlessness, over 3,000 children and more than 90 teachers navigate daily threats that compromise not only their safety but their right to quality education in a protected environment.
Constructed to offer refuge and structure for academic pursuits, the Sowa Din Cluster of schools, comprising two primary schools, two junior high schools, and a kindergarten, now stands vulnerable, its protective boundaries eroded in practice if not in policy. A perimeter wall erected in 2021 was meant to demarcate and defend. Instead, it has become symbolic, a crumbling illusion of order, routinely violated by intruders ranging from petty thieves and drug addicts to unauthorized religious groups who repurpose school compounds as grounds for spiritual gatherings long after the final school bell rings.
The scenes are distressingly routine: classrooms littered with remnants of narcotic paraphernalia, prayer camps holding vigils under classroom windows, school properties missing after weekend invasions, and teachers forced into roles of makeshift security guards. What was intended as a sanctuary for growth has instead become a corridor of exposure to theft, drug abuse, spiritual intrusion, and moral erosion. Learners arrive daily not to serenity, but to sites of yesterday’s chaos, some too frightened to focus, others too familiar with vice to even flinch.
This article sets out not merely to document a problem but to sound an urgent, coordinated call to action. It urges the Ghana Education Service, the Ghana Police Service (Adentan District), the Adentan Municipal Assembly, NADMO, and the Honourable Member of Parliament for Adentan to treat the breakdown of security at Sowa Din cluster of schools as a municipal emergency. Political hesitation, civic neglect, and unchecked encroachment are converging into a storm that endangers the most vulnerable among us: our children. This is not a matter of partisan priority, but of public conscience. The time to act is now, and decisively.
Context, Environment and Security breach
Ashalley Botwe School Junction, nestled within the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, is one of the most dynamic yet chaotic intersections in the nation’s capital. It operates almost continuously, with commercial activities spilling deep into the night. What started as a modest suburban crossroads has evolved into a hub of relentless human and vehicular traffic, attracting vendors, commuters, and entrepreneurs from across the municipality. Kiosks, chop bars, auto repair joints, and mobile money booths cluster along narrow, poorly demarcated paths, creating an informal economy that thrives on unregulated access and brisk, unmonitored exchange. While this commerce provides livelihoods for many and adds to the area’s urban appeal, it also creates blind spots, pockets of uncontrolled human activity that embolden criminal elements and undermine civic order.
In the midst of this hyperactive environment sits the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools, a public education complex that houses over 3,000 pupils and more than 90 teachers across five institutions. These include two primary schools, two junior high schools, and a kindergarten, each operating in close proximity within a shared compound. The sheer number of learners and educators places considerable demand on space, logistics, and supervision. Yet, this school complex, so critical to shaping the futures of thousands of Ghanaian children, finds itself wedged between unregulated commerce and inadequate civic oversight. The location, which should offer strategic advantages in terms of accessibility, instead amplifies the schools’ vulnerability. The open access routes that lead in and out of the school compound, especially through adjoining commercial lanes, provide a constant stream of unscreened individuals, creating security challenges that no school administration can manage alone.
This complex geography leaves the schools exposed. The absence of structured urban planning around the junction means that encroachers, some well-meaning, others with sinister intent, can exploit spatial gaps to gain unauthorized entry. Street hawkers sometimes use school fences to hang their wares, and drug addicts routinely find breaches in the wall to crawl through. Even during instructional hours, learners must endure external distractions: shouting traders, revving engines, and, disturbingly, the occasional violent confrontation between commercial operators and law enforcement. The physical proximity of the school to the junction, once thought to be an asset, has now become a critical liability. Without immediate, coordinated intervention, the Sowa Din Cluster risks becoming a tragic symbol of how poor urban integration and neglect can threaten not just the safety, but the very soul of public education.
The construction of a perimeter wall around the Sowa Din Cluster in 2021 was initially hailed as a proactive step toward securing the school environment. Funded through collaborative efforts by the Adentan Municipal Assembly and community stakeholders, the wall was intended to keep intruders at bay and restore a sense of order within the school premises. However, what was meant to be a line of defense has become little more than a symbolic barrier, routinely breached and rendered ineffective by the sheer scale of human traffic and the absence of sustained enforcement. According to residents and staff who have worked in the area for years, the wall has not only failed to stop unauthorized access but, in some instances, appears to have emboldened wrongdoers who now operate in blind spots, assuming the physical barrier offers them cover from public view.
Local police reports and community watch accounts corroborate these troubling trends. Between 2022 and 2024, complaints of break-ins, theft, and the presence of drug users on school grounds were routinely filed with the Nmai Dzorn Police station, yet few arrests have been made. Teachers report arriving at school on Monday mornings only to find classrooms littered with used syringes, cigarette butts, and, on occasion, human waste. Some classroom doors, though padlocked at the end of each school day, have been forced open under the cover
of darkness, suggesting that criminal elements are not only persistent but increasingly emboldened. These incidents are not isolated but part of a disturbing pattern of trespass and abuse of public infrastructure. In more than one instance, drug users have been found asleep under school desks at dawn, rousing themselves only when students begin arriving for classes.
This pattern of intrusion has introduced a new layer of tension into the daily operations of the school. Teachers and administrative staff now serve as de facto security personnel, patrolling the compound in pairs after hours and calling on local authorities with increasing frequency. The 2021 wall, though still standing, has become porous, not just physically but operationally. Gaps along its foundation allow for crawling entry, while breaches along its northern boundary, facing dense kiosks and informal structures, have created invisible corridors for unauthorized movement. Even worse, some community members, aware of the wall’s compromised state, use it as a shortcut to avoid longer walking routes, further normalizing its violation. Despite repeated appeals to the Municipal Assembly and the Police Service for routine patrols, responses have been erratic and unsustained, leaving school authorities overwhelmed and unsupported.
Without reinforced civic presence and active community policing, the wall remains a façade of security. What should serve as a protective boundary for over 5,000 children has become an illusion, an architectural gesture unmatched by strategic commitment. If the wall is to mean anything beyond its concrete composition, then it must be supported by surveillance infrastructure, regulatory enforcement, and a reinvigorated sense of institutional urgency.
Anything less continues to place lives at risk and undermines the trust of parents who look to the state to protect their children within spaces of learning.
The unauthorized occupancy of the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools has evolved into a crisis of both physical intrusion and psychological trauma for learners and educators alike. What begins as simple trespassing during off-school hours quickly escalates into a full-scale occupation by individuals with no legitimate business within an academic environment. Among the most disturbing of these are drug addicts who routinely force entry into classrooms at night. Teachers and janitorial staff recount chilling scenes of addicts curled up in corners of KG and Primary classrooms, using desks as makeshift beds, and leaving behind a trail of used drugs, broken glass, and faecal matter. These acts are not only deeply unsanitary and disrespectful but also pose serious health and safety risks, particularly to young children whose immune systems and emotional resilience are still developing.
During weekends and evenings, the compound transforms yet again, not into a sanctuary of rest and recovery, but into an unauthorized venue for religious gatherings. Loudspeakers blare sermons late into the night, while dozens of worshippers occupy open spaces and verandas for prayer sessions and vigils. These groups neither seek nor receive formal permission from the school or the Municipal Assembly, and yet they operate with apparent impunity. While religious expression is a protected right under Ghana’s constitution, its practice must be conducted in lawful and non-disruptive manners, especially when it occurs on government property designated for basic education. These activities contribute to accelerated wear and tear of facilities, violate the sanctity of the school’s educational mission, and often clash with the clean-up routines needed for Monday lessons to commence smoothly.
This dual abuse, by drug-dependent individuals and unauthorized religious organizations, has created an environment of fear and helplessness among learners. Pupils have expressed unease about staying after class for extra lessons or school clubs, afraid they might encounter threatening strangers loitering within school premises. Some parents have withdrawn their children from after-school programs altogether, citing security concerns and reports of unfamiliar men roaming the compound. Female students, in particular, are more vulnerable in this climate, and the absence of gender-sensitive safety protocols exacerbates the danger they face. The repeated exposure to deviant behaviors, substance abuse, loitering, and trespassing, gradually desensitizes learners to illegality, eroding their moral compass and distorting their sense of right and wrong.
What is more troubling is the normalization of this decay. Teachers speak of their exhaustion not just from instructing, but from constantly policing the premises. Heads of schools spend more time filing complaints and letters to authorities than they do on academic planning. The lack of accountability emboldens offenders and signals to the broader community that school spaces are free-for-all zones, available to anyone at any time, for any purpose. This disorder not only undermines the professional dignity of educators but also sends a dangerous message to learners: that the state cannot protect them, even within the supposed safety of a government school compound. If this pattern is allowed to continue unchecked, the school’s identity as a safe, structured, and focused environment for teaching and learning will be irreparably compromised.
Impact on learners, teaching and learning
The chronic insecurity at the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools is no longer just a safety issue, it is an educational emergency. The daily exposure of learners to drug abuse, disorderly behavior, and unauthorized intrusions has had a profound impact on their psychological well-being, academic performance, and overall school experience. Children, some as young as four years old, arrive each morning to find classrooms that were occupied by drug users the night before, often littered with dangerous remnants such as broken bottles, cigarette butts, and drug paraphernalia. This persistent contact with unsafe conditions chips away at their sense of security, making it difficult for them to concentrate, feel safe, or build trust in the school as a protective environment. These are not abstract fears. Teachers recount instances of students breaking down in tears after stumbling upon strangers in the schoolyard, or reacting with anxiety whenever the topic of staying after school is raised.
This limits their access to critical learning hours that are meant to prepare them for national assessments like the BECE. The impact extends to classroom behavior, where some learners display aggression, inattentiveness, or emotional withdrawal, symptoms often linked to trauma and environmental stress. Teachers are forced to double as counselors, disciplinarians, and security monitors, stretching them far beyond their professional remit and limiting the time available for focused instruction.
Educators themselves are bearing the brunt of this dysfunction. Many arrive at school early, not to prepare for lessons, but to inspect classrooms for trespassers and sweep out debris left behind overnight. Their sense of professional fulfillment is dwindling, replaced by fatigue, frustration, and, in some cases, resignation. Morale is low, and the sense of helplessness is palpable. Teachers report feeling unsupported by the very institutions meant to uphold school safety, such as the Ghana Education Service and local law enforcement. The lack of meaningful, consistent interventions sends a clear and damaging message: that education, despite its central role in national development, is not prioritized when weighed against competing political interests.
The Ghana Education Service has long emphasized the importance of creating safe, child-friendly learning environments as a cornerstone of effective basic education. Yet, the reality at Sowa Din starkly contradicts this mandate. The continued exposure of learners to danger, combined with the emotional exhaustion of teachers, undermines every policy on quality assurance, inclusive education, and learner protection. This is not merely a breach of school rules, it is a betrayal of national educational commitments. Without urgent intervention, the systemic rot festering at Sowa Din will not only erode public confidence in public education but will also leave a generation of students emotionally scarred and academically stunted.
Parallel enforcement gaps, political interference and voting dynamics
The chaos engulfing the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools is not an isolated anomaly, it mirrors the broader national crisis of illegal mining, or galamsey, which has ravaged Ghana’s environment and undermined rule of law. Just as galamsey thrives in rural communities due to weak regulation, political shielding, and inadequate enforcement, so too does the insecurity at
Ashaley Botwe School Junction fester under the blind eye of institutions. In both cases, communities have become hostages to lawlessness, where short-term economic or political interests override long-term public good. The unregulated use of the school compound, the encroachment by unauthorized persons, and the boldness with which these acts are repeated, all point to a glaring enforcement vacuum. Authorities are aware of the problem, yet visible, consistent responses are absent. The few police patrols that occur are often sporadic, reactive rather than preventive, and fail to address the root causes of the breakdown in order.
What is most troubling is not simply the presence of crime, but the normalization of it in a space that should embody structure, discipline, and hope. Community members, including vendors and commuters, walk past drug users loitering near school gates without alarm, and children begin to internalize these sights as part of everyday life. This erosion of moral boundaries in young minds is the silent but most dangerous cost of failed enforcement. Despite the construction of a perimeter wall in 2021, breaches are routine, and security remains performative rather than practical. Without visible authority figures asserting control and safeguarding the premises, a message is sent that these learners do not matter enough to protect.
Enforcement, however, cannot function in a vacuum. It requires political will and the courage to act even when it risks public disapproval. Yet, at Ashaley Botwe Junction, the will to enforce appears to be dulled by the fear of losing political favor among key constituents, vendors, commercial drivers, and informal workers who make up a significant portion of the electorate. As a result, civic agencies tasked with maintaining order have been rendered ineffective, paralyzed by indecision and haunted by the specter of political backlash. The Ghana Police Service, for instance, could reclaim the school space through routine patrols, the arrest of intruders, and visibility campaigns. The Adentan Municipal Assembly could regulate the roadside chaos, remove unauthorized structures, and impose zoning regulations. Yet, both institutions appear locked in a cycle of consultations and delays, as if time were an unlimited commodity.
Meanwhile, the future of over 5,000 learners hangs precariously on decisions that remain undone.
At the core of the inertia confronting efforts to restore order at Ashaley Botwe School Junction is a delicate and deeply entrenched political reality. The junction, with its dense cluster of traders, commercial drivers, vendors, and itinerant service providers, has evolved into more than just a bustling economic hub, it is now a formidable electoral bloc. These groups collectively represent a significant number of registered voters within the Adenta Constituency, and their influence on electoral outcomes cannot be understated. Consequently, political officeholders often tread cautiously around any issue that may be perceived as antagonistic to their interests. Attempts to regulate their activities, especially those that involve eviction, zoning enforcement, or police crackdowns, are met with fierce resistance, usually framed as anti-people or anti-poor. For municipal authorities and elected representatives, such resistance poses a real threat to political capital and re-election prospects.
This voter sensitivity has, over time, generated a culture of non-action and strategic silence. Community members report frequent visits by local political figures during campaign seasons,
making lofty promises to restore order and ensure safety around the school. Yet, once the elections pass, these pledges dissolve into ambiguity. Municipal authorities are tasked with enforcing zoning laws and maintaining public order defer action, citing the need for “further stakeholder engagement”. a phrase that has become a euphemism for political evasion.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service operates under considerable pressure not to antagonize the public mood. The result is a chronic stalemate, where clear dangers to school children and teachers are acknowledged but left unaddressed due to the fear of upsetting a politically volatile demographic.
Local media and public forums have on occasion highlighted these dilemmas, with some assembly members admitting off record that political considerations often temper the zeal to enforce regulations. Civil society groups and Parent Teacher Associations have submitted petitions, some dating back several years, requesting intervention to no avail. What emerges from this situation is a dangerous compromise of security sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. In such a scenario, the lives, safety, and learning of children are held hostage by the strategic calculations of those entrusted with their welfare. Until political leadership decouples electoral interests from its duty to protect public education spaces, interventions will remain tokenistic and the chaos will continue to deepen.
Proposed Multi-Stakeholder Response
Addressing the entrenched insecurity at the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools demands a coordinated, deliberate, and multi-stakeholder response that transcends rhetoric and sporadic interventions. At the forefront of this effort must be the Ghana Police Service (Adentan District), whose presence around the school should shift from reactive incident response to a model grounded in consistent visibility and community trust-building. Regular patrols during and after school hours, coupled with a robust community policing approach, can deter intruders and reassert the authority of the law within the space. These patrols must be more than ceremonial; they must signal a genuine recommitment to safeguarding young learners and public property.
Equally critical is the role of the Adentan Municipal Assembly, which bears the statutory mandate to enforce urban planning laws, regulate public space usage, and protect municipal assets. The Assembly must immediately initiate a comprehensive audit of all commercial and religious activities within the school zone. Unauthorized faith-based organizations that utilize the school compound for services without approval should be formally warned and, where necessary, removed. Similarly, vendors operating unlawfully close to or within the school perimeter must be relocated to designated market areas. This will not only reduce congestion and limit exposure to harmful substances and behaviours but will also restore the dignity of the educational space.
The Member of Parliament for Adentan, as a key policymaker and community representative, must show leadership by moving the issue from the margins of constituency concerns to the center of legislative and public discourse. The MP, in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), should mobilize the necessary logistical and technological support to reinforce the school’s defenses. The installation of functional
streetlights, CCTV cameras, and controlled access gates can greatly improve surveillance and safety. Additionally, the MP should initiate dialogue with national security agencies to treat the protection of learning environments as a national security concern, not just a local inconvenience.
For its part, the Ghana Education Service (Adentan Municipal Directorate) must embed school safety and crisis preparedness into its administrative protocols. School heads and teachers should be equipped through targeted training to identify early warning signs of criminal infiltration and coordinate timely alerts with law enforcement. Safety audits should become a regular part of school supervision, and community engagement forums should be used to educate parents and residents on their roles in maintaining a secure academic environment.
The cumulative strength of these efforts lies not merely in their technical application but in the demonstration of political will and moral clarity. When all parties align their actions with the constitutional and ethical responsibility to protect Ghana’s children, the transformation of the Sowa Din Cluster and indeed Ashaley Botwe Junction becomes possible. A multi-stakeholder task force, backed by legal authority, operational funding, and cross-sector collaboration, is the only sustainable pathway to restoring order, peace, and dignity to one of Adentan’s most critical educational spaces.
Expected Outcomes and Key Performance Indicators
The implementation of a coordinated and sustained security response around the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools is expected to yield transformative outcomes for the school community and the broader Ashaley Botwe School Junction. First, the frequency of unauthorized intrusions, whether by drug addicts, loiterers, or unapproved religious gatherings, is projected to decline by at least 80% within the first twelve months of full enforcement. This reduction will be achieved through the joint deployment of visible security patrols, strict access controls, and improved perimeter surveillance. With a safer environment, student attendance rates are anticipated to rise, especially among learners who previously stayed away due to fear or trauma linked to the compound’s vulnerabilities.
Academic performance is also expected to improve measurably. A focused, disruption-free learning environment will restore students’ concentration and emotional stability, leading to gains in literacy and numeracy scores across the cluster. Key performance indicators will include improved BECE pass rates, reduced incidents of teacher absenteeism due to safety concerns, and a decline in reported cases of on-campus theft or substance exposure. The success of this intervention will further be measured by the frequency and outcomes of safety audits conducted by the Ghana Education Service, as well as real-time security data logged by the Ghana Police Service.
Moreover, civic trust in local governance institutions will grow if stakeholders communicate regularly through community engagement forums and publish public-facing progress reports. These reports should include data on crime reduction trends, infrastructural upgrades, and feedback from school staff and parents. Together, these measurable indicators will not only mark the restoration of safety but will also set a benchmark for protecting school environments in other vulnerable urban communities across Ghana.
The situation at the Sowa Din Cluster of Schools is no longer just a local nuisance, it is a national emergency in microcosm. The daily realities faced by over 3,000 young learners and more than 90 educators are a stark indictment of our collective failure to prioritize school safety in urban planning and governance. When classrooms become hideouts for drug users, and schoolyards are hijacked by unauthorized gatherings, we do more than disrupt learning, we rob children of their right to dignity, safety, and a future untarnished by fear. It is a dangerous precedent when the political convenience of appeasing a voter bloc takes precedence over the sanctity of education. No democracy can flourish under such contradictions.
This article is not merely a complaint, it is a call to conscience. The Ghana Police Service, Adentan Municipal Assembly, Ghana Education Service, NADMO, and the Member of Parliament for Adentan must rise above inertia and partisanship to act decisively. Our children’s classrooms must not be battlegrounds for negligence or apathy. Their innocence, their ambitions, and their dreams are at risk. Restoring order at the Ashaley Botwe School Junction is not only possible, it is urgently necessary. To fail them is to betray the future of Ghana itself.
By Evans AMEVOR, STEM Educator and founder of AMEECH Consult. Email: [email protected]
REFERENCES
Adentan Municipal Assembly. (2022). Composite Budget for 2022–2025. Retrieved from https://www.mofep.gov.gh Ghana Education Service. (2020). Safe Schools Policy Framework. Accra: Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://ges.gov.gh Ghana Statistical Service. (2021). 2021 Population and Housing Census: General Report – Adentan Municipality. Accra: Ghana Statistical Service. Retrieved from https://statsghana.gov.gh Ghana Statistical Service. (2023). Crime and Public Safety in Ghana: Perception and Data Report. Accra: GSS. Retrieved from https://www.statsghana.gov.gh/publications Joy News. (2022, November 18). Drug abuse on the rise in Accra suburbs – GHS warns of youth exposure. Retrieved from https://www.myjoyonline.com Manasseh Azure Awuni. (2021, May 14). The shame of our silence: When the poor suffer from the politics of neglect. The Fourth Estate. Retrieved from https://thefourthestategh.com NADMO (National Disaster Management Organisation). (2021). Urban Risk and Hazard Mapping Report: Greater Accra Region. Accra: NADMO Publications Unit. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2022). Global report on drug use: West Africa regional brief. Vienna: UNODC. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org
