Some students of Wesley Girls' Senior High School
Preamble: A long-standing tension reaches the Supreme Court
An informal agreement existed within Ghana’s borders for nigh on ninety years.
Mission schools, established in the 1800s and early 1900s as a move to plant Christianity, were subsequently incorporated into public education. The State agreed to fund salaries and operational costs. In this agreement, the founding churches retained the land, name, Christian essence, and dominant seat on the administration’s Board. And so, everyone was clearly aware that this would remain a Christian establishment.
By implication, or so it was intended, the new thrust of the 1992 Constitution will take precedence over any private treaty or previous colonial law. By and large, this arrangement has been largely effective, as the Muslim enrollment in the elite “Category A” mission schools was relatively low, with any grouses unvoiced behind the headmistresses’ door.
However, their enrollment figures have significantly grown. Muslims comprise some 20% of the population of Ghana, many of whose parents, particularly those who are professional, would like their daughters to attain the same intellectual elitist heights hitherto enjoyed at Wesley Girls’, Aburi Girls’, Holy Child, and St. Augustine’s schools. What had been private gripes within dormitories is now public litigation within the Supreme Court.
The case in court
On November 25, 2025, a seven-judgment bench led by Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson produced two significant orders in the case of Shafic Osman v. Board of Governors of Wesley Girls’ Senior High School, Ghana Education Service, and Attorney-General (Suit No. J1/08/2024).
Wesley Girls’ Senior High School must respond to the case by December 9, 2025, as Democracy Hub has been permitted as a participating member as a concerned group.
Everyone is waiting to see if the Supreme Court will hold that a school founded in 1836 still has the right in 2025, through taxpayers’ money, to enforce its faith-based uniform.
Root Causes: Old colonial regulations confront today’s diversity
Wesley Girls’ Senior High School was founded on 8 February 1836 with only a handful of students on a hill in Cape Coast. A boarding seminary was established for Fante girls by Harriet Wrigley, wife of Wesleyan missionary Rev. Thomas Birch Freeman.
Primarily, its objective was evangelistic: educating Christian wives who would serve as African pastors and instructors. Indeed, its emblem includes the flame of Methodism, with its motto: ‘Live Pure, Speak True, Right Wrong, Follow the King,’ where ‘the King’ refers to ‘Jesus Christ.’
With the Education Act of 1961, Christian schools were nationalised. However, Section 22 stated that “no child shall be required to take any part in the religious instruction or worship if their parent withholds their consent.” Effectively, its implementation was left to the discretion of the headmistresses as well as school boards composed largely of appointees from churches. Meanwhile, until recently, there were only a few Muslims, so this was not considered noteworthy.
Three events shook up the whole situation:
1. Rising Muslim middle-class aspiration for elite education for girls.
2. The national computerised placement system (CSSPS), which since 2008 had been sending many top-performing Muslim girls to Wesley Girls’.
3. An increasing awareness of rights amongst younger Muslim parents, as well as alumni who will not settle for second-class citizenship for their children.
The 2021 Ramadan crisis & what followed
This was not the case in April 2021, when a Form One Muslim was ordered to take meals. News broke instantly. Before long, the National Chief Imam, the Muslim Caucus in Parliament, and civic organisations reacted. By the 4th of May, the Ghana Education Service had issued a regulation that no student, with the consent of their parents, was required to stop fasting. Things were believed to be back to normal.
But that wasn’t the end. Parents as well as previous students were reporting issues such as:
• Taking away or banning hijabs from the school uniform.
• Prayer mats or quiet areas for praying five times a day.
• Muslim girls are still required to attend the daily Christian chapel and Sunday evening service.
• “Rewards (demerits) for ‘religious insub…’
By the end of 2023, lawyer Shafic Osman had collected statements from many families. On December 17, 2024, the case was presented before the Supreme Court through original jurisdiction.
Court Case: In Plain Terms
“The plaintiff requests that the Court:
– Articles 17 (1), 21 (1) (b) – (c), and 26 (1) guarantee the rights of Muslim students to observe fast, pray, and dress modestly.
a. Coercing non-Christians to participate in Christian worship services contravenes…
There appear to be no directives from the Ghana Education Service on the accommodation of religion. However, the Attorney-General asserted that the terms imposed within the institution were selective measures that ensured discipline and also its historical Christian origins.
Currently, the Supreme Court considers whether or not the State can still fund the institution, despite its policy requiring children from other religions to adhere to its doctrines.
Religious Tolerance: A Timeless Ghanaian Ideal
Tolerance in religion isn’t something new in Ghana, as tolerance has been incorporated into their lifestyle for years. Along the coastal cities, Muslims worshipped side by side with Christian merchants in the 1800s. In the northern markets, Imams today still speak alongside the Catholic priest in communal events.
Ghanaians have always believed that peace will come if individuals don’t have to conceal who they are. Starting from 1921 until now, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has practised this ideal with the establishment of schools and hospitals for every religion without the hope of converting.
It’s this same ideal that pushes Wesley Girls’ School and every other Mission School to allow children of other religions the same rights exercised by them. Tolerance isn’t the absence of difference, but its respect.
Scriptural Consensus Against Coercion
Both founding texts of the dispute reject forced worship with striking clarity.
The Holy Qur’an is unequivocal:
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ
Lā ikrāha fid-dīn, qad tabayyana r-rushdu mina l-ghayy.
“There shall be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error.” (Sūrah Al-Baqarah 2:256)
And again:
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
Lakum dīnukum wa liya dīn.
“To you, your religion, and to me, my religion.” (Sūrah Al-Kāfirūn 109:6)
These two verses, revealed in Makkah when Muslims were a persecuted minority, remain the cornerstone of Islamic teaching on religious freedom. These have guided the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ghana for over a century, never once compelling a non-Muslim student or patient to adopt Islam in any of our more than 200 schools and hospitals.
Christian scripture speaks with the same voice of liberty:
Jesus taught voluntary discipleship:
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
The Apostle Paul warned the Galatians:
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
Neither the Qur’an nor the Bible authorises any school—Christian or Muslim—to use institutional power to compel worship or suppress the sincere practice of another faith.
Living Proof that Pluralism Works
Ghana already has real-life cases:
‘Presec, St. Augustine’s College, and Holy Child School provide prayer rooms, allow the hijab, and do not force Muslim students into the chapel if necessary.’
In its extensive network of schools (in excess of 200 schools across the country), the Ahmadiyya school system neither requires Christian nor Traditionalist students to pray under the leadership of an Imam. T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School (Real Amass), Kumasi, T.I. Ahmadiyya Girls’ School, Asokore, as well as other schools in Wa, Salaga, Fomena, Essarkyir, record exemplary national performances.
Leaders’ Voices: A Bipartisan Call for Tolerance
History in Ghana has evidenced that religion can, in fact, unite, as opposed to divide. Applying this background, in the Wesley Girls controversy, the leadership invoked the country’s Constitution, which provides a guarantee of freedom of religion.
On September 11, 2025, President John Mahama, addressing the Conference of the Regional Chief Imams at the Presidency, stated:
“Ghana is a country with multiple religions. Our Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, worship, and expression of one’s religion. It will not be helpful if Christian students in a Muslim school were forced to adopt Islam. And, conversely, Christian schools in Muslim suburbs must not compel students to conceal their faith.” (Source: ghanaweb.com)
But this was more than rhetoric. This was happening as controversies were rising over mission schools, proving that children must not be coerced in the classroom.
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo agreed years ago with the first case concerning Ramadan fasting at Wesley Girls’ in May 2021, which angered the public. President Akufo-Addo clearly stated:
“Schools should not be places for religious or ideological fights.” (@Salt959FM)
His statements, coming at a time when voices for dialogue were mounting, indicate that boarding schools such as Wesley must concentrate on education, not forced uniformity. Such quotes, coming from leaders of different political parties, show a unified message: that the diversity within Ghana must respect any faith, even more so in places that are funded by all Ghanaians.
Voices from Mission Schools that Already Respect Religious Freedom
These quotes were taken from recent postings on X (formerly Twitter) as well as Facebook. They highlight real events of different religions getting along in Ghana’s Mission Schools. They offer explanations that allow students to live their faith while promoting unity without affecting the school’s identity.
• At Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon), education rights activist Kofi Asare posted on X:
“PRESEC Legon is a Christian school, yet Muslim students freely observe Ramadan there. They even have a place where they pray. If Muslim students do Ramadan at Wesley Girls, will the school collapse?”
• Also on X, alumnus Jay_beezy_:
“Presbyterian schools are renowned for their rules and discipline, but in PRESEC Legon, there was a space for Muslim students to pray without being prevented, neither by anyone nor the chaplain, as we respected each other’s religions in school.”
• @Deportee15, commenting on a Facebook page discussing the rights of religions, explained:
“Presec Legon usually gives Muslim students the chance to pray and fast. It doesn’t affect their studies in any form whatsoever.”
• A Facebook entry for 2021:
“Holy Child Senior High School, Cape Coast welcomes every individual as well as every different religion, so keeping with the moral ideals of the institution is not mandatory but a communally shared responsibility.”
Stories shared through online forums confirm this: Muslim students fast, dress, and pray without compromising the Catholic culture.
• At T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School (Real Amass) Kumasi, alumnus D^^nn¡ commented on X:
“At T. I. AMASS, the head boy, as well as the head girl, must always be Ahmadis, and we as a school respect that. Indeed, we do not even conduct a ballot. We used to close before 11 am on Fridays so that our Muslim brethren would proceed for Jummah.”
• On Facebook, a previous student remembered:
“I attended Amass; in our days, Christians were permitted to attend church outside the school on Saturdays and Sundays. I will always be grateful for the tolerance that moulded me into a person with lifelong respect.”
These testimonies, as shared in the Wesley Girls’ debate, demonstrate that if schools interact with people with respect for one another, religion is a unifier, not a divider.
Where We Stand Today
As of 26 November 2025, the country is waiting for Wesley Girls’ formal response and the scheduling of full hearings in early 2026.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has confirmed that comprehensive national guidelines on religious accommodation in all public and grant-aided schools are being finalised for Cabinet approval this academic year.
Whatever the Supreme Court decides will affect not only Wesley Girls’ but every mission school still operating under the old compromise. The judgment will determine whether Ghana’s elite education system will finally reflect the plural reality of the nation it serves or whether a colonial-era religious monopoly will continue to enjoy public funding while denying full citizenship to children of minority faiths.
Wesley Girls’ can remain proudly Methodist and proudly Ghanaian at the same time. All it needs is the political will and moral imagination to open its gates a little wider, as so many of its sister institutions have already done.
Conclusion: A Call to Conscience for a Shared Future
Ghana has never been an exclusively Christian or Muslim country. It has always been a nation of many faiths united under one flag.
The Supreme Court has the opportunity to affirm this simple truth once and for all. Wesley Girls’ Senior High School can remain true to its Methodist heritage while welcoming every Ghanaian girl onto its campus as an equal.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has shown, through a century of quiet service in education and health care, that religious identity and true inclusion are allies, not enemies.
When faith is offered freely and received voluntarily, it unites rather than divides. Let the chapel bell ring, let the adhan rise, let every girl study, pray and grow according to her own conscience. That is the Ghana our founders envisioned, and that is the Ghana the Constitution demands.
The era of half-measures is over. Let Wesley Girls’ lead by example, or let the law require it. Either way, the children of the nation deserve nothing less.
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