I stated facts, I won’t apologise – Joe Osei-Owusu defends weed comment

Joseph Osei-Owusu, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament insists that Rastafarianism involves the smoking of weed.

According to him, his research shows that Rastas smoke weed to interact with God and it is a fact.

Defending his comments in a Joy News interview monitored by GhanaWeb, the Bekwai MP noted that when Rastas smoke and get into a trance, that is their meditation with God and it is their belief.

“I will point you to the site; it is not even Google. It is stated clearly how they interact with God. I will give you two articles. Yes, when you get into a trance that is meditation with God. That is their belief. I didn’t create that,” he said.

Joe Osei-Owusu has come under criticism following his comments that the Rastafarian religion involves weed smoking. The First Deputy Speaker was contributing to Achimota School’s refusal to enrol two Rasta students despite gaining admission to the school.

He indicated that the debate should not be based on religious grounds as that might complicate matters for the children, since smoking weed forms part of the tenets of the Rastafarian religion.

He added, considering the fact that smoking weed remains illegal in the country, he was concerned that stakeholders in the educational sector may use that argument against the students. He, therefore, advised that the argument be based on whether Achimota School as an institution has the right to deny any student enrolment based on their hair.

After his comments on the floor of Parliament, many have asked him to retract and apologise because not all Rastas smoke weed but the MP disagrees.

“Retract a fact? Why should I retract a fact? But it is not for me to apologize for a fact,” Joe Osei-Owusu said.

“The position I stated, I still stand by it. If you say that the young man as a faith practitioner should wear [....] dreadlocks, then you complicate the matter for him because if we accept that then he can argue that as part of my faith, I am entitled to smoke weed. That is the argument I am making. But if we discuss it as a hairstyle and move on to discuss if Achimota school is entitled to make room regarding my hairstyle. Do the rules they have made infringe on my right? Are the rules sensible? Then you are leaving out what other things can happen. And I was hoping this is the discussion we make.”

Osei-Owusu further argued that if one says not all Rastas smoke weed, it does not negate those religious requirements.

“The fact that I am a Christian but I don’t follow all the Christian principles does not change the principles of Christianity. So if you are a Rastafarian but you don’t follow some of the religious practices, it doesn’t change that the religion believes in that,” he stressed.