The Supreme Court has set April 21 to hear a case challenging alleged religious practices at Wesley Girls Senior High School.

This comes after a dispute started when reports surfaced that Wesley Girls Senior High School was restricting Muslim students from practising their faith, i.e., fasting and prayers.

On November 28, Imam Sahamudeen Bamba publicly reignited the controversy, accusing Wesley Girls’ SHS of continuing to restrict Muslim students.

His accusations come on the back of a pending lawsuit which was filed at the Supreme Court of Ghana by lawyer Shafic Osman, challenging Wesley Girls’ SHS for allegedly restricting Muslim students from fasting and wearing hijabs.

Shafic argues that these actions constitute a violation of the rights of Muslim students.

Two separate applications have been filed in the case, one by the school’s Board of Governors, which is a party to the suit, and another by the Catholic Church of Ghana.

Reacting to the suit, the school’s Board of Governors have challenged their inclusion, citing that they are the wrong people to be sued, as the school is originally owned by the Trustees of the Methodist Church.

Osman, in response, contends that the board’s claim, citing the Ghana Education Service Act, which he says mandates the board to manage the affairs of the school, makes it a proper party to the suit.

He also implicates the Ghana Education Service and the Attorney General, and states that any attempt to strike out the writ based on the board’s alleged lack of legal capacity would be regarded as misguided.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has filed an application to participate in the case as a friend of the court.

In its submission, the Secretariat challenges the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, arguing that the matter is a human rights issue that should be heard by the High Court.

On the substantive issues, it maintains that faith-based schools have the right to uphold their religious values, and that students of other faiths who voluntarily enrol in such institutions may be considered to have accepted certain limitations on practising their own religion.

The case was initially scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, but was relisted to April 21.

Meanwhile, following Sahamudeen’s allegations, he openly called on President Mahama to intervene.

Consequently, the President, speaking during a meeting with the National Peace Council on Wednesday, December 10, expressed his surprise at the tensions, citing that an MoU signed by these missionary schools clearly spell out the institution's acceptance of recognition of diversity.

Hence, President Mahama expressed confidence in the Supreme Court’s ruling, saying, “There is a matter before the Supreme Court which is yet to be determined. If you read what the faith-based organisations agreed in their own MoU, I don’t see any point of dispute.

"They all accept that if there is a mission school, it has its faith orientation, but within that faith orientation, there must be recognition of diversity. It is right there in the MoU. I don’t want to suggest it, but I think the Supreme Court has its work cut out for it because the same people signed that MoU, so I don’t see what the contention there is”.

The President also referred to a part of the MoU that spelt out regulations about fasting for both the Christian and Islamic religions. According to him, the agreement was that in cases where a student, by religious obligation, sought to fast, it would be subject to the approval of their parents. Once approved, any repercussions or health implications resulting from the fast would be the responsibility of the parents and not the school.

“And there is even a section that talks about fasting because Christians fast and Muslims fast. You can find a Christian student in a Muslim school and a Muslim in a Christian school. And it says that yes, the student can fast if the parents approve. And if there are any health consequences from the fasting, the responsibility shall be that of the parent and not the school”, the President said.

It will be recalled that, in 2024, the National Peace Council facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between faith-based organisations and the Ghana Education Service, which was aimed at regulating and managing religious diversity in mission schools, covering practices like fasting, worship spaces, and dress codes.