Donatus Akamugri Atanga, the Upper East Regional Minister, has revealed that the Zuarungu Senior High School student clash was fueled by phone theft and not tribal division as claimed by some media reports.
On Sunday, July 20, 2025, a confrontation erupted between Frafra and the Kusasi students.
Reports suggest, the altercation escalated into an ethnic-fuelled brawl, resulting in the burning of school structures and widespread tension across the school community.
Zuarungu Senior High School was later closed down by the Regional Minister due to the violent clashes between the Frafra and the Kusasi.
According to the minister, the incident escalated when the student who lost his phone approached the alleged thief with two friends to retrieve his phone.
Speaking on Morning Starr on Tuesday, July 22, Donatus Akamugri Atanga stated, “From the reports that I was given when I engaged the management with my REGSEC members… on Saturday night, one of the students from Nakpanduri area, which is in the North East region, was alleged to have stolen a mobile phone belonging to another student from the Kusasi area”.
“In the scuffle, the accused student also had two boys with him, and then the whole issue broke into a fight,” he recounted.
He added, “Where the other students started joining was because of the friends’ involvement. It wasn’t clearly anything associated with tribal lines.”
“The class—you know the youth—also fell in line and joined the riot.”
Donatus Akamugri Atanga emphasised that what unfolded was a youth-driven misunderstanding that blew into a larger conflict.
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has commended Donatus Akamugri Atanga, the Upper East Regional Minister, for his closure of the Zuarungu Senior High School.
Thomas Musah, the General Secretary, noted that the Regional Minister’s directive was essential in de-escalating the situation and safeguarding lives and property.
The GNAT General Secretary stated, “There are things you do not joke with; religion, culture, ethnicity, and other related matters. These are emotional things; they are not rational things.
What we are hearing was some kind of ethnic violence, and I think that the best thing is what the minister has done to cool tempers, and then later they regroup them again,” he added.
