By: Ibrahim Khalilulahi Usman
Wesley Girls Senior High School (SHS) has been sued for allegedly denying Muslim students the right to practice their religion. The lawsuit, filed by Ghanaian legal practitioner Shafic Osman, claims that the school has systematically suppressed Muslim students for years by preventing them from observing their religious practices.
The plaintiff is seeking nine declarations, including a statement that the school’s policy of prohibiting the belief, practice, and observance of Islam by Muslim students is contrary to and inconsistent with the provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
The nine reliefs sought by Shafic Osman are as follows:
1. A declaration that the policy of the first defendant prohibiting the belief, practice, and observance of Islam by Muslim students on its campus is contrary to and inconsistent with Articles 12, 17(1) and (2), 21(1)(b), (c), (e), and 26 of the 1992 Constitution, as well as international human rights recognized under Article 33(5) of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992.
2. A declaration that the first defendant’s policy requiring a compulsory school religion in a public school is contrary to and inconsistent with Articles 21(1)(b), (c), and Article 26.
3. A declaration that the first defendant’s policy prohibiting Muslim students from exercising their religious rights is unlawfully discriminatory and violates Article 17(2) of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992.
4. A declaration that the limitations imposed on Muslim students by the first defendant undermine the welfare of these students, as outlined in the International Human Rights of the Child, recognized under Article 33(5) of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992.
5. A declaration that the first defendant’s policy compelling all students to practice Methodism constitutes the establishment of religion in violation of Article 21(1)(c) and Article 56 of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992.
6. A declaration that by allowing the first defendant’s policy of compelling the practice of Methodism by all students, the second defendant has unlawfully permitted the imposition of a common religious program, violating Article 56 of the Constitution of Ghana, 1992.
7. An order permanently restraining the first and second defendants from further administering the disputed policy at the first defendant’s school or implementing similar policies in any other school, effective immediately.
8. An order directing the second defendant to enact constitutionally compliant guidelines for the regulation of religious practice and observance for all public schools in Ghana.
9. Any other order(s) that this honourable court may deem fit.
