Freedom Of Religion Must Prevail

Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang – Minister of Education

Two landmark demonstrations took place last week. While one was political, having been organised by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against the ongoing power outages, the other, the subject of this editorial, was faith-driven.

In Takoradi members of the Islamic faith, who had for long complained about their wards in senior high schools being compelled to attend churches and denied the freewill to worship according to the tenets of their faith, took to the streets in protest.

What petitions and other correspondences to the Ghana Education Service (GES) failed to achieve, the demonstration appears to have registered some dividends for the protesters somewhat. No sooner had the street march ended than government issued a statement condemning school heads who breach the constitution-given freedom of religion.

Emanating from the Islamic demography, it expectedly made the front burners and set an agenda for discussion among important segments of the population, Christianity and Islam alike.

Religious harmony in Ghana is an enviable attribute which all must contribute in sustaining. Christians and their counterparts in the Islamic religion have over the years shared mutual reverence much to the peace of the country. Both have exchanged pleasantries and gifts during each other's festive occasions and shared mournful moments.

Some countries in Europe such as Denmark are still rolling out remedial modules to ensure inter-religious harmony as a means of healing the fractured relationship between Christians and Muslims.

The last thing we should countenance in Ghana is a religious disharmony between members of the two great religions which have lived with each other for centuries in a beautiful cultural mix. It is significant therefore that wherever there is misunderstanding, as in the case of Muslim students being denied the freedom to worship but rather compelled to attend Church, this should be managed with a view to ensuring peace and harmony.

We expect therefore the Ghana Peace Council to act without delay in addressing this challenge once and for all, especially since its attention has been called to the anomaly.

The story of a Muslim student in one of the Cape Coast schools jumping to his death when a housemaster was approaching to ensure that students attended a religious programme is still fresh in the minds of many.

We doff our hats for those who embarked on the protest march for being orderly and not doing anything which could have fed into the stereotypical position about Muslim youth. Perhaps those who organised the protest should also share in the glory for their exceptional control over those marching. The feat could not have been achieved without appropriate sessions of pre-demonstration counselling.

We implore government to go beyond threatening to sanction school authorities who breach the constitutional requirement of freedom of religion.

An appropriate mechanism should be put in place by the GES to ensure that students who are denied freedom of religion can be heard and their concerns addressed forthwith devoid of witch hunting.

We can sustain the prevailing wind of religious peace prevailing across the country when such breaches as in the case of freedom of religion are avoided.