Catholic Bishops file affidavit in Wesley Girls religious rights case
The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has filed an affidavit at the Supreme Court in support of an amicus curiae brief in an ongoing case concerning religious rights in Ghana’s public school system.
The move follows a lawsuit filed by lawyer Shafic Osman, which challenges certain policies at Wesley Girls’ High School. He alleges that Muslim students at the school are compelled to participate in Christian religious activities while being restricted from practising aspects of their own faith.
The suit further contends that such directives violate provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, particularly those guaranteeing freedom of conscience, religion, and belief.
Speaking to Citi News, the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, said the Conference’s submission is grounded in a Memorandum of Understanding on religious tolerance in schools. The MoU was adopted in April 2024 by government-assisted and private mission schools to promote mutual respect and accommodation of diverse religious practices.
He explained that the intervention by the Conference is intended to assist the court with broader perspectives on religious coexistence within educational institutions, rather than to support any particular party in the case.
The case has reignited a national conversation on religious tolerance in schools, raising questions about the balance between institutional traditions and the constitutional rights of students to freely practise their faith.
