Seasoned journalist Kwesi Pratt says the ongoing lawsuit against Wesley Girls’ SHS over restrictions on Muslim students raises a straightforward constitutional issue.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana monitored by MyNewsGh, he argued that no school in Ghana has the authority to override the 1992 Constitution.
According to Pratt, “No institution in Ghana is above the Constitution. No religious or non-religious body can take away the freedoms the Constitution guarantees.” He stressed that one of these freedoms is the right to practice one’s faith without interference.
Pratt rejected the claim that because Wesley Girls is a Methodist school, it can impose Methodist practices on every student. He described that argument as “bogus” and added, “If that is the case, then why admit non-Methodist students at all?”
He pointed to global and local precedents. He referenced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, saying, “Even in the United States, they say no educational institution has a right to impose religion on students. Some schools don’t say prayers because it infringes on the rights of the child.”
Pratt also cited Ghana’s High Court decision in the Achimota–Rastafarian case. “The court was clear that no school can take away the religious rights of children. That decision should guide educational institutions,” he said.
He added that requiring Muslim students to abandon their religious practices simply because they attend a Christian-aligned school violates constitutional guarantees.
“Under the 1992 Constitution, people have a right to believe in any God they choose, and the right not to believe at all,” he said.
