SHS Inter-Co Fights Destroy Baba Yara Sports Stadium Seats

More than 3000 seats at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi have been destroyed following violent clashes between senior high school students during the ongoing 2026 Inter-Schools competitions in the Ashanti Region.

These chaotic scenes have left rows of plastic seats at the Stadium broken, missing, or badly damaged raising serious concerns about security at school sporting events.

In a video shared by Citi Sports on X on Friday, January 30, 2026, aggrieved students were seen fighting each other while others threw objects across the stands. The clashes broke out during an inter-schools sports event, disrupting activities at the stadium. During the chaos, student cadets rushed in to restore order, but they struggled to calm the tensions.

According to the report, nearly 300 seats were destroyed during this brawl, with students removing them and hurling them at their opponents.

“Troubling scenes were witnessed at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi after SHS students damaged nearly 300 seats during an inter-school sports event. According to reports, the National Sports Authority says it costs about GH¢500 to repair a single seat,” the video captioned.

An eyewitness who narrated events in the video strongly condemned the violence and the destruction of national property, stressing that the repairs would cost the nation significantly. He blamed the chaos on poor security arrangements, explaining that responsibility was given to student cadets instead of trained military personnel.

“They are cadet corps, so when they come, they misbehave. Look at how they were removing the seats. This behaviour, if things don’t go well, then we blame the government, but it is ourselves.”

“SHS games, if they had brought soldiers who were issuing instructions, would they have fought them? Authorities should do better for the games because there are talents here, and we need to enjoy, not destroy national property,” the eyewitness said in Twi.

Meanwhile, the damage to the Baba Yara Stadium has gone beyond the recent incident. Over the past two weeks, more than 3,000 seats have been destroyed following repeated clashes between senior high school students.

Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the National Sports Authority (NSA), Patricia Adams Mensah, disclosed that 455 seats were broken in a single day after clashes involving Kumasi Senior High School, Kumasi Senior High Technical School (KSTS), and Simms Senior High School during the inter-schools and colleges football competition.

She added that further chaos erupted on Monday, January, 26 and Tuesday January 27, 2026 during the TVET athletics event.

“For the TVET, we invited them and informed them. They were aware when the seats were broken, we are having 3,955 seats broken,” she told Luv FM.

Patricia Adams Mensah said the Ghana Education Service (GES), the main organizer, has contracted a third party to repair the seats, with payment to be made by the schools involved. She also noted that while police are usually present, they are sometimes not enough to control the students.

The Baba Yara Stadium is currently hosting the 2026 Ashanti Regional Inter School Athletics Competition as authorities race against time to repair the damage ahead of the Super Clash between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak on February 15.