All Hail Rasta! All Hail Dreadlocks! All Hail Marijuana!

And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad. Acts 26:24

BRRR, SHINTO, AGIDIGIDI, ABRACADAVRA (Noise in class) Bible Knowledge Teacher: “What's all the noise about?” Class: “Go way you”. Class: Prefect: 'Hei Tee, today, we go study 'Rastafarianism', not the humdrum archaic religion you label as Christianity, You believe in God, but Jah is within us. Ras Tafari Makonen (Haille Sellasie) is his prophet. We dan't know Jerusalem; we know Ethiopia… Class (sing): “All pirates, yes they rob I sold I to the merchant ships. Minutes after they took I from the bottomless pit. But my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty. We forward in this generation triumphantly. So won't you help to sing. These songs of freedom? That's all I ever had Redemption songs. Redemption song. Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds. Have no fear for atomic energy. Cause none ah dem can stop di time. How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look? Hoo, some say it's just a part of it. We've got to fulfill the book. So wait you help me sing these songs of freedom freedom?  That's all I ever had Redemption Songs. Redemption song.

Emancipation, Human rights, freedom of speech, religion, same sex marriage… Did you not hear that a court in the U. S. had ordered that if a male student felt within s/himself, that s/he was a girl, s/his human rights had to be protected, and s/he should be allowed to stay in the girls' dormitory.

Don't talk of English, the imposed colonial language. Use the pseudo dialect of Dread talk which is much easier to speak than other patios. It is 'tanks' not 'thanks'; 'tree' not 'three', 'di' not 'the', 'dem' not 'them', 'dat' not 'that'. It is  'inity'' not 'unity'. Don't use English words that have devil-like connotation: 'Hello'' implies 'hell' and 'low', so use 'Yes, I' or 'Na gwari'; not 'Thank you' but 'Praise Jah'. You may remember Bob Marley in “Crazy Ballheads”: “wi guh chase them crazy ball head outta town”, You know, everything is all right? “Ya, irie” (mi nuh have nutten fi complain bout, mi life irie” (I don't have anything to complain about, my life is good)… Why shouldn't we have 'bwoy' for 'boy', 'gal' for 'girl', 'pickney' for 'children', 'bredren' for 'adult male': 'sistren' for 'adult female'; 'empress/queen' for 'wife/girlfriend'? Rastafarianism formulated in Jamaica in the 1930s leads the way: take cannabis, smoke marijuana freely.

Haven't you read that Solomon, Samuel, Daniel, Ezekiel, Abasalom, John the Baptist, Paul… wait a minute… Samson wore dreadlocks? And that Samson's seven dreadlocks were the source of his strength. Check Numbers 6: 1-6 and Leviticus 21: 5-6. Kwaku Firi, Akonnode, Kobiri, Nogokpor these are African Go for your rights. Arrr! Brrr! Grrr!

On 31^st May, 2021, the Human Rights Division of Accra High Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo ruled in favour of two Rastafarian students, Tyrone Iras Marhguy and Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea against their rejection by Achimota School for admission on grounds of their refusal to cut their dreadlocks. The students, led by their counsel James Awuga, Esq and Wayoe Ghanamannti, Esq had argued against their inability to gain admission because they wore dread locks, which by their religion, Rastafarianism, they could not. They cited Articles 25(i) (b) and 28 (4) of the 1992 Constitution–the right to education as well as Articles 15(i) and 35(4) (5)–the right to dignity. The judge questioned: “What has the wearing of dreadlocks, which are the manifestation of one's religious right, got to do with upholding discipline in the school?” In the Judge's view, ordering the students to cut their dreadlock discriminated against their fundamental human rights.

This case is on all- fours with the Kenyan, Petition No.10 of 2019 filed at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division Nairobi. It was the first case of its kind in Kenya brought on behalf of a Rastafarianism child who had been denied the right to education because she wore dreadlocks. The judge, E.D Mwita took the pains to give a legal definition of “religion” and made reference to Zimbabwean case DZova versus Minister of Education, Sports and Culture and others in which the Supreme court held that “ Rastafarian was not only a religion, but also that expulsion of the minor from school on the basis of her dreadlocks was a contravention of Section 19 and 23 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe” The judge in the Kenyan case stated “Consequently, the petition amended on 29^th January, 2019 is allowed and I make the following orders.(a)  A declaration is hereby issued that the decision by the school administration of O High School to exclude MNW from school on the basis of her keeping Rastas which manifests her religious belief is a violation of her rights…

(b) An order is hereby issued directing the School administration of O High School to immediately recall M N W to resume and continue with her education unhindered (c) A permanent injunction is hereby issued restraining the School administration of O High School from negatively interfering with M N W's education… (d) The Respondents to pay costs of this Petition.

The Board of Governors of Achimota School has shown their displeasure at the court's judgment. The Board of Governors has issued a statement. “The court ruled that the religious rights of the two applicants had been violated by the School Management as they sought to enforce the time-tested and well-known rules of the School. The Court further directed the School to admit the two applicants. The school's board disagrees with the ruling of the court. The school's board has therefore, directed its lawyers to appeal against the ruling”.

This should make Nana Akomea happy – he was upbeat about the High Court's decision. Whither school rules? Whither discipline? Is it not a “license to kill?” So, school authorities should not “discipline” a student for wearing “baggy trousers” (Otto Pfister) – indecently exposing his underpants? You can't call them ragamuffin any longer. The worst one could do might be to label them “pimpinis”, “psychedelic”, “apuskeleke” or “bellbottom”. Disregard the edict. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6)

It is doubtful whether there is a scintilla of facts in this case to see a similitude of the Rosa Parks' (the first lady of civil rights) action in Montgomery in the    U.S. in 1955 that led to the court ruling that bus segregation was unconstitutional. Or the whole civil rights movement championed by Martin Luther King Jnr. from 1955 till his assassination in 1968. Or the civil rights agitations that led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1967. The date is 18^th August, 2050: Court grants soldiers the right to wear civilian clothes to work; court grants lawyers the right to wear cloths in court, and a judge cannot say such persons are “naked”… A female judge wears kaba and slit… Would we be able to celebrate our centenary birthday? We would have long followed our friends, Sir John and Albert Sam – and so saved from such legal baloney (apologies to ex-President Mahama).

Africanus Owusu-Ansah
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