Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education
The ongoing public warfare between some section of the Christian and the Muslim communities about the decision of Wesley Girls SHS to prevent a Muslim student to fast towards the Ramadan, Sam George said, should be blamed on Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum for his untimely directive to the school.
He described the brouhaha as much ado about nothing and all sides [Wesley Girls SHS, Methodist Church of Ghana and Muslim community] should have handled the situation better.
“On this one, I place the blame squarely on Dr Adutwum, the Minister for Education, I think he messed up and botched the handling of that issue because the Muslim parliamentary caucus met the Methodist Bishops; there was a certain understanding that pointed to a middle ground being sort then the Education Ministry without recourse to the Methodist Church issues directives.
“And so, the Methodist Church will also want to show you their power and say you cannot issue us those directives and that’s where I think the problem came,” Sam George explained.
He stated that, after listening to the church, he realized the issue of the fasting did not start today, “it’s a long-standing principle because children were developing conditions based on the fasting… but the bottom-line here is, the Christian fast is not the same as the Muslim fast. The Muslim fast is the cardinal part of their religion; it’s for a particular period and time and so, our discussion on religious tolerance must allow us to always accommodate people.”
“It’s the same way, I will not be happy if TI Ahmadiyya said non-Muslim girls in their school should wear the hijab; I’ll kick against it and so, it is fair and right for Muslim parents to be able to determine that their kids should be allowed to fast.
“if the school thinks that there is a health issue to it, let the parent sign an undertaking that says that we’re waiving any legal options that exist to us; people should be free to practice their right," he argued.
Sam George believes that the Muslim fasting issue at Wesley Girls SHS could have been avoided if a firm directive was issued to Achimota School to allow the Rastafarians denied enrolment to enrol.
“When in Parliament the issue of the Rastafarian boys came up, I stood in the chamber and said Achimota School should be stopped because the issue of the dreadlocks was not a lifestyle choice, it was not a fashion choice, it was on the basis of religion.
“The GES is spineless in responding to Wesley Girls because they did not respond to Achimota. If you could not whip Achimota in line, how do you whip Wesley Girls in line, you can’t,” he stressed.
