Supreme Court Admits Methodist Church Trustees as Defendants in Wesley Girls’ High School Religious Policy Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday has granted an application by the Trustees of the Methodist Church Ghana in a constitutional case pending which they are challenging the religious policies of Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast. ‘It is anticipated that Supreme Court’s decision will greatly enlarge the scope of action, with consequent debate now raging across the nation on religious freedoms and the management of mission schools in Ghana.‘ The suit was made by Shaffic Osman, a private legal practitioner who is seeking to interpret the Constitution concerning some religious practices and rules prevailing at Methodist-founded institutions.

The plaintiff is challenging school policies that purportedly prohibit Muslim students from donning the hijab, observing Ramadan fasting and performing Islamic prayers on campus, while demanding all students join in Christian worship activities. Counsel in charge of Trustees of the Methodist Church Ghana contended that while the church does not deal with the school operations, a dissenting decision against Wesley Girls’ High School would adversely impact the Methodist Church who is the founding body. The Trustees thus insisted that it was necessary for them to be part of the case to resolve all problems in a way that they could fully and definitively adjudicate. Abdul Aziz Gomda was the plaintiff’s lead counsel, opposing the application and contending that the Board of Governors of the school was already a party and had the authority to properly represent the interests of the school.

However, Justice Srem-Sai, Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice who represented the Attorney-General, had not objected to the application. He said the request was reasonable as it was a public institution that is funded and supervised by the Ghana Education Service (GES), but that the Methodist Church took the school in its way of life historically through the time it was owned and connected with them. One of its seven-member panels, presided over by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, ruled in its judgment that the Methodist Church Trustees’ participation would contribute to finalizing the longstanding case. Now the parties in the suit after the ruling are: the Board of Governors of Wesley Girls’ High School (1st defendant), Ghana Education Service (2nd defendant); The Attorney-General (3rd defendant), and the Trustees of the Methodist Church Ghana (4th defendant).

The court adjourned the matter sine die. The case marks the latest phase in an ongoing national debate over religious accommodation at mission schools. That debate rose to prominence in 2021 after reports that a Muslim student at Wesley Girls’ High School was presumably barred from fasting during Ramadan. This led to extensive debate among religious leaders, educators, civil society organizations, and policy makers about how constitutional religious freedoms can be reconciled with the traditional nature of mission-centered educational institutions.

Editor:

Obiri-Yeboah