NMCG in a press release in response to the statement by the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference on religious practices in government-assisted mission schools, affirmed its trust in the courts and the constitutional order to help resolve the ongoing impasse which originally started at the Wesley Girls’ Senior High School.

We will respect the final ruling, and we expect all religious bodies to do the same. Ghana belongs to all of us. Our children must learn to live together, not segregate in the name of religion.

The National Muslim Conference of Ghana contended that in the spirit of peace, it resisted issuing statements that could inflame tension hoping to rely on dialogue to resolve the situation. “We chose dialogue, national unity, and the pursuit of justice through appropriate channels. Silence must never be mistaken for weakness, and peace must never be taken for granted”.

In direct repose to issues contained in the statement issued by the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, NMCG stated the following:

1. The Constitution Is Supreme

The Constitution guarantees every Ghanaian student the right to practice and manifest their religion. Mission schools that accept state funding, state teachers, GETFund projects, and placement through the national system cannot act as private religious enclaves. Institutional identity cannot override individual constitutional rights and national interest.

2. The GES Directive Is Unambiguous

The GES Directive on Religious Tolerance (2015) explicitly prohibits:

a. Denial of the right of Female Muslim Students to manifest their religion by way of the hijab

b. Forcing Muslim students into Christian worship

c. Preventing Muslim students from practicing their faith

The GCBC/CCG position directly contradicts this binding directive.

3. The MoU They Signed Exposes Their Contradiction

The MoU on Government-Assisted Mission Schools, validated 15th April 2024, requires:

a. Acceptance of diversity

b. Non-discrimination on the basis of religion

c. Support for students’ religious practices

d. Respect for fasting and places of worship

It is therefore surprising for leaders who signed a peace-oriented MoU to now defend policies that violate it. It is important to state that Muslims are not asking for a mosque to be built in these mission schools, rather grant them their rights to pray, fast and not force them to attend church activities.

4. Moral Leadership Cannot Be Selective

It is disheartening that institutions claiming spiritual authority would support the oppression of vulnerable students - children who have no power except the protection guaranteed by the Constitution.

What is there to gain if we insist on oppressing poor vulnerable students, denying them their fundamental human rights, even if such actions have, in the past, led to the painful death of a Muslim Student, as happened at Adisadel College in 2008? The NMCG have urged all Islamic Schools not to force students of other faiths to participate in Islamic worship.

The Qur’an categorically states that “There is no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an 2:256). For example, in many Islamic SHSs such as T.I Ahmadiyyah, Kumasi, Suhum Islamic Girls SHS and Siddiq SHS, Agona Nyarkrom among others, Christian female students do not put on veils (hijab) even though the hijab is part of the school uniform.

5. Ghana’s Peace and Stability is Supreme

We call on all Ghanaians to recognize that, the unique peace we enjoy within a turbulent sub-region, marred by religious violence, cannot be taken for granted.

Key elements in this peace have been the fact that, Christians and Muslims are friends with each other from attending the same schools, sleeping in the same room, and eating from the same dining hall. Such friendship cannot be maintained within an environment in which minority religious group’s rights are violated.

The call for Muslims to attend their own schools is a call for religious segregation which cannot bode well for religious peace and harmony.

Christians in Christian Schools and Muslims in Muslim Schools is a pseudo-apartheid system which can only entrench hatred for one religious group against another, a gas chamber waiting for the hazardous ignition to explode.

We choose peace and look up to the country’s constitutional bodies to guarantee the religious rights and freedoms of its citizens.

It stated that “for years, the Muslim community has exercised extraordinary restraints, guided by the wisdom, patience, and commitment to peace exemplified by the National Chief Imam’.