We’ve made progress in Wesley Girls’ school impasse— Peace Council

The National Peace Council (NPC) says it has made some progress in the impasse between the Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in the Central Region and the Muslim Community over a decision by the school to prevent its Muslim students from fasting during the Ramadan period.

It has, therefore, entreated people to remain calm since efforts were being made to arrive at a peaceful resolution of the matter.

The council also appealed to Muslims and Christians to desist from practices and commentaries, especially on social media on the issue since such actions could further inflame passions.

According to the council, it had since the beginning of the issue met with all relevant stakeholders and would continue to engage the parties involved to find an amicable solution to the problem to forestall any escalation.

The Chairman of the NPC, Rev. Dr Ernest Adu Gyamfi, said this when some members of the council's Governing Board visited the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, at his residence at Fadama in Accra yesterday.

The meeting formed part of efforts by the NPC to engage all stakeholders in the matter for an amicable resolution.

Significance of meeting

According to Rev. Gyamfi, the council was aware of the security implications of the problem, hence its decision to intervene swiftly to foster peaceful co-existence among all the various religious groupings in the country.

He said the council had since met with key stakeholders in the matter, including the leadership of the Methodist Church Ghana, management of the school, the Old Girls’ Association and the Parent-Teacher Association of the school, including the Ministry of Education.

“We have made substantial progress in terms of this work. We have met all the relevant stakeholders. We came to see the Chief Imam today and from here we are going to meet the Muslim Caucus in Parliament.

“Certain steps are also being taken at the background so that we can tone down the tension in the country,” the chairman added.

Developing an MoU

The council has, however, entreated the Ministry of Education to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to govern the administration of mission schools and faith-based organisations in the country.

Rev. Gyamfi said during a meeting with the Minister of Education, it was realised that the problem had lingered due to the failure by authorities to implement a draft MoU to govern the operations of the schools.

According to him, the minister gave an assurance that the MoU which would be finalised in two weeks would clearly specify the rights, privileges and responsibilities of individuals who attended public mission schools.

“There was some work that was done by the Peace Council in 2015 when an issue of Hijab came up. That will also be incorporated into the new document after which all mission schools and stakeholders would make input and when that is finalised, they will all append their signature to it. And once that is done, the issue of faith in schools would be resolved once and for all,” Rev. Gyamfi said.

Appreciation

For his part, Sheikh Sharubutu expressed appreciation to the NPC for taking steps to engage all stakeholders in the matter in the interest of peace in the country.

He underscored the need for both Muslims and Christians to continue to live in harmony, saying “Allah created our diversities for us to complement one another and not to be involved in conflict.”

“The peace we are enjoying is a huge favour from God and we should not destroy it with violence”, he said.