‘The Tales from Achimota School’: The story of the Rastafarian student Tyrone Marhguy

In Ghanaian society, Rastafarians and individuals with dreadlocks often face negative perceptions, including being associated with drug addiction and crime. Typically, when a crime occurs in a group, individuals with dreadlocks are the first to be suspected.

This was the case for Tyrone Iras Marhguy, a Rastafarian student who was initially denied admission to Achimota Senior High School in 2021 due to his dreadlocks.

Marhguy's story, titled 'The Tales from Achimota School,' has shed light on Rastafarians. Despite facing challenges and legal battles over his decision to maintain his dreadlocks while pursuing his academic goals, Marhguy has defied the odds and become an inspiration to many.

This article details Tyrone Iras Marhguy's journey, from nearly being rejected by Achimota to earning a full scholarship at an Ivy League university in the United States.

Achimota ‘rejects’ Tyrone Marhguy:

The story of Tyrone Marhguy gained attention in March 2021 when his father, Raswad Menkrabea, criticized Achimota for what he called a 'gross human rights violation' after the school allegedly refused to admit his son.

Menkrabea took to Facebook to share his experience, stating that Achimota School rejected his son, who kept dreadlocks, citing their rules against admitting students with dreadlocks.

He mentioned that his son, along with another student, were turned away after being assigned to the school through the Computer Placement System. Menkrabea expressed his determination to fight against this violation of human rights.

“The school authorities denied two brilliant dreadlocked students from being admitted after having been posted there by the Computer School Placement System. My son was one of the affected children, and the other student was also refused on the same grounds. We have no option but to battle against this gross human rights violation,” parts of his post read.

As a Rastafarian, Mr Menkrabea maintained that his son had the right to any culture of his will once it did not breach the 1992 Constitution.

The issue sparked widespread debate in the media, with some supporting Marhguy's right to be a Rastafarian and keep his dreadlocks, while others argued that admitting him would set a negative example.

Stephen Bosomtwe Ayensu, former Methodist Bishop of Obuasi Diocese, famously stated, “allow prostitutes, galamseyers to operate if you want Rasta students to be admitted."

The situation even reached Ghana's Parliament.

The Ghana Education Service intervened, instructing Achimota to admit the Rastafarian student, but the school refused, citing their rules. The headmistress of the school argued that the school would not compromise its rules and would not admit Marhguy if he kept his dreadlocks.

Tyrone Marhguy drags Achimota to court:

On March 31, 2021, Marhguy, through his father, filed a suit at the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court to seek the enforcement and declaration of his right to education. The suit had the board of governors of Achimota School and the Attorney-General as first and second respondents, respectively.

Marhguy and his family accused the government and the school of infringing on his rights. The Attorney-General argued previously in court that the applicant had no cause of action because nothing within the scope of his right to education and religion had been infringed upon.

The Board of Governors of Achimota School also argued that the curtailment of the rights of the Rastafarian students through the school’s rules was provided under Article 14 clause one of the Constitution of Ghana.

The court on Monday, May 31, 2021, presided over by Justice Gifty Adjei Addo, ruled in favour of Marhguy and ordered Achimota Senior High School to admit the Rastafarian students.

Justice Adjei Addo ruled that failure to admit the two students because of their dreadlocks, which is a manifestation of their religious rights, is a violation of their human rights, right to education, and dignity.

Making the Science and Maths team of Achimota:

Despite the legal battles and the attention surrounding his admission, Marhguy's education was not negatively impacted. He seemed even more motivated to excel in his studies.

Right after the court ruling that he should be admitted, Marhguy told reporters that he had been studying at home to make up for classes he missed during the legal battle.

Many Ghanaians were caught by surprise when Achimota School announced that Marhguy was part of their team for the upcoming National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) championship for 2023. In a Facebook post shared by the school, Marhguy was captured with fellow contestants of the A-list school at an NSMQ trial.

The Rastafarian student was, however, subsequently dropped from the final team for the competition, a fate he gladly accepted. He explained that the school was right to drop him because he did not study biology.

“I got into the first fifteen and was in the team. But moving forward, it was still Biology. Regardless, it was as if we couldn’t afford to not have biology because it would put everything on the other contestant [the only person who studied Biology]. And if that’s the case, we are going to have a problem with the Problem of the Day [a round in the quiz competition]. If it is a biology question, it is a catastrophe because I can’t do anything. I can just watch him. Alright, I was learning the Biology and all that, but they [those who were eventually selected] had been doing it for about three years,” Marhguy explained in an interview with the media.

Scoring 8 As in WASSCE:

The brave Rastafarian student made news headlines in the country a few months later after he aced the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Marhguy secured the highest grade possible, an A1, in all eight subjects he studied as a General Science student at the school, including English, Social Studies, General Science, Core Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Elective Mathematics.

Winning US Maths competition:

In December 2023, Marhguy made news headlines after he was crowned the overall national top scorer in a US math contest, the American Mathematics Olympiad, beating over 150,000 students from all parts of the world and earning the gold medal.

He was also awarded the Vanda Science International Olympiad in the Silver category out of 38,000 test-takers.

At an event at the Chartered Institute of Bankers Hall in Accra on December 29, 2023, he was officially inducted into the International Junior Honour Society, 2023.

Bagging $1.4 million worth of US scholarships:

Now Marhguy has bagged scholarships worth $1.4 million from universities in the United States (US).

In a post shared on X on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the former Achimota student disclosed that he has been awarded a full scholarship to pursue computer engineering at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).

He indicated that he also got scholarship offers from Franklin & Marshall College, Williams College, and Duke University, which sum up to $1.4 million.

BAI/OGB

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