Grief and confusion have engulfed the family of 17-year-old Bernard Nyanzu, a final-year student of Kikam Technical Institute in the Western Region, following his sudden death through electrocution under circumstances his father says remain unclear.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Angel FM, the distraught father, Joseph Nyanzu Blay, said the incident occurred on January 25, 2026, yet his family has struggled to obtain consistent information about what truly happened.
According to him, he was at home when some people came to break the news that Bernard had died.
“I was home when some people from the school came to inform me that my son is dead,” he recounted. “My wife had gone for a PTA meeting on Saturday and met him, then on Monday the news came to me.”
Mr. Blay said he was told that the school had sent some students to do paid work and two of them, including Bernard, were electrocuted in the process.
“They said it is something they usually do and pay the students,” he added.
However, the bereaved father says he has not been able to piece together the full story because different accounts keep emerging from school authorities and investigators.
“I am yet to come to terms with the incident and nobody has been forthcoming with information. When I went to the mortuary, the CID, doctors and nurses are not saying anything. A teacher in the school is also telling me something different,” he lamented.
He disclosed that no official delegation from the school has visited the family since Bernard’s death. Instead, only three community representatives came to his house.
“There was nobody from the school. Till now, nobody has told me anything,” Mr Blay stressed.
He explained that by the time he heard about Bernard’s death, he had already been sent to the mortuary.
Mr Blay also expressed frustration at his inability to speak with the second student involved in the accident to better understand the situation.
“I have been trying to speak with him, but they keep telling me he has been referred to Korle Bu, Cape Coast and a whole lot,” he stated.
Adding to the confusion, the father said the headmaster initially denied Bernard’s presence in school after reopening.
“The headmaster at a point was even telling me my son hasn’t been to the school since reopening. Meanwhile my wife had seen him when she went there. The students are saying he has been in school and another teacher confirmed he saw my son the Friday before the incident during an SRC event,” he explained.
“I don’t know if they deliberately killed my son. I have done everything possible to unravel the truth and understand the incident but that has been futile,” he said emotionally.
He revealed that Bernard reported to school on January 10 and died on January 25, barely weeks into the academic term.
“When you go, the headmaster will only speak big grammar or divert the conversation,” he added.
On the police investigation, Mr Blay said officers at Nzema Police Station informed him the case has been forwarded to the regional command, limiting what they can publicly disclose.
“The person who took the children to work, I learnt, has been granted bail,” he disclosed.
The family is now calling for a full, transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Bernard Nyanzu’s death, as they seek justice and clarity over how a routine school activity ended in tragedy.
Mr. Nyanzu has vowed to take the law into his own hands if justice does not prevail.
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