The Supreme Court has joined the Trustees of the Methodist Church, Ghana, as a party to an ongoing constitutional case challenging the religious practices of Wesley Girls’ Senior High School.
The seven-member panel of the apex court, presided over by Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, granted an application by the church trustees to be joined as the 4th Defendant in the suit filed by private legal practitioner Shafic Osman.
The panel also comprised Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu Tanko, Ernest Yao Gaewu, Senyo Dzamefe, Richard Adjei-Frimpong, and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu.
Shafic Osman is challenging what he describes as unconstitutional religious restrictions imposed on Muslim students by Wesley Girls’ Senior High School, a Methodist-founded institution.
The plaintiff contends that the school compels Muslim students to attend Christian church services and prevents them from fully practising their Islamic faith on the basis that the institution is a Christian school.
According to him, those actions violate constitutional protections on freedom of religion and worship.
At Tuesday’s hearing, lawyer George Ankomah Mensah, appearing for the applicants, told the court that the Trustees of the Methodist Church Ghana had filed an application on May 8 seeking to be joined to the suit.
He argued that the church, as proprietor of the school, would be directly affected by any decision of the court and therefore ought to be heard in line with the rules of natural justice.
Opposing the application, counsel for the plaintiff Abdul Aziz Gomda argued that the case was an attempt to revisit matters that had previously been addressed by the court and maintained that the school in question was a public institution.
The Attorney-General’s office, represented by the Deputy Attorney-General together with Stella Badu and Sarah Fafa Kpodo, however, indicated that it did not oppose the joinder application.
State attorneys told the court that although Wesley Girls’ SHS was publicly managed, the issue of proprietor rights had already been raised in their statement of case and supported the inclusion of the church as a party.
In its ruling, the court said it had reviewed the application and the affidavit in opposition and had taken note of the withdrawal of portions of the supporting affidavit.
The Chief Justice held that the applicants had established sufficient basis to be joined as necessary parties to the suit.
The court consequently granted the application and directed that the Trustees of the Methodist Church Ghana be served with all processes filed so far in the matter.
