LeadGate Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONDEMNATION OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S BETRAYAL OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE WESLEY GIRLS' SHS CASE

The Patriotic Muslim Front (PMF) and LeadGate Foundation received with profound disappointment and utter dismay the official Statement of Case filed by the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, in the matter of SHAFIC OSMAN V. THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF WESLEY GIRLS SHS, THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE & THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL (SUIT NO: J1/6/2025).

The Deputy Attorney-General's position, which explicitly argues for the dismissal of a case seeking to protect the fundamental religious rights of Muslim students, is a shocking abdication of its constitutional duty to protect every citizen and a grave betrayal of the secular principles upon which our nation is built.
The case before the Supreme Court concerns the institutionalised religious discrimination faced by Muslim students at Wesley Girls’ Senior High School. These students are systematically prevented from observing the pillars of their faith, including Salat (prayer), Jummah (Friday congregational prayers), fasting during Ramadan, and celebrating Eid. They are barred from wearing religious attire, gathering for prayer, and are compelled to participate in Methodist worship services.

The Plaintiff, Shafic Osman, invoked the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to seek declarations that these policies are unconstitutional. It is in this context that the Attorney-General, the principal legal advisor to the government and the guardian of the public interest, as represented by the Deputy AG in this instance, has chosen to side with discrimination rather than with the constitutionally guaranteed rights of these young Ghanaian citizens.
PMF& LGF condemn in the strongest possible terms the Deputy Attorney-General’s legal arguments, which are fundamentally flawed and morally reprehensible for the following reasons:

1. A Pernicious Distortion of Public Character: The Deputy AG's attempt to classify Wesley Girls' SHS as a private entity ignores the reality that the school is predominantly funded by the Ghanaian taxpayer, its teachers are paid by the state, its curriculum is determined by the Ghana Education Service, and it operates under the state's educational regulatory framework. A school that is maintained wholly from government funds is, by the definition in our own laws, a public institution. To argue otherwise is a legal fiction designed to sanitise discrimination.
2. Selective Application of Fundamental Rights: The Deputy AG correctly cites Article 21(1)(c) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees every person the "freedom to practice any religion and to manifest such practice." However, he perversely applies this right only to the Methodist Church as an institution, while systematically denying it to the Muslim students within that institution. The Constitution exists to protect individuals from the tyranny of the majority; the AG has instead weaponized it to enforce that tyranny.
3. Betrayal of the State's Secular and Non-Discriminatory Duty to all Citizens: The Constitution in Article 17(2) expressly prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion. By endorsing a policy that compels Muslim students to practice a religion either than their own, the AG is not only violating their freedom of conscience but is also actively promoting state-sanctioned discrimination. His position effectively argues that the state can use public funds to support religious coercion, a notion that is anathema to a democratic society.
4. A Dangerous Precedent: If the Supreme Court accepts the AG's position, it will give a green light to every state-assisted mission school in Ghana to suppress the religious freedoms of minority students. It will create a two-tiered system of citizenship where students from religious minorities are forced to choose between their faith and their education. This is not the inclusive Ghana our Constitution envisions.
The Patriotic Muslim Front and LeadGate Foundation calls on the AG to immediately withdraw this prejudiced Statement of Case and file a new one that aligns with the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution, a Constitution that protects the weak against the strong and guarantees liberty and justice for all, not just for the majority.
We urge all well-meaning Ghanaians, religious leaders, civil society organisations, and human rights advocates to join us in condemning this dangerous stance. We remain confident that the Supreme Court will see through this flawed argument and deliver a judgment that upholds the religious freedoms of every Ghanaian child, regardless of the school they attend.
The soul of our nation's democracy is at stake. We must stand for a Ghana where no one is compelled to worship against their will.

Signed,

For and on behalf of the Patriotic Muslim Front (PMF) and the LeadGate Foundation
Alhaj Mohammed Haruna
Sheikh Iddrisu Abdullai Alhassan