The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has filed an affidavit at the Supreme Court in support of an amicus curiae brief submitted in an ongoing constitutional case challenging religious policies at Wesley Girls’ Senior High School.
The affidavit, sworn by Most Rev. Joseph Kwaku Afrifah-Agyekum, Bishop of Koforidua and Episcopal Chairman for Education of the Conference, verifies the facts and documents contained in the amicus brief. According to the Conference, it was filed to assist the court in understanding broader issues of religious coexistence in Ghana’s educational institutions.
The case, initiated by private legal practitioner Shafic Osman, alleges that Muslim students at Wesley Girls’ High School which is a government-assisted mission school are compelled to participate in Christian religious activities while facing restrictions on practising aspects of their own faith, such as wearing the hijab, observing Ramadan fasting, and other Islamic rites.
Osman contends that these policies violate key provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, including those guaranteeing freedom of conscience, religion, and belief under Articles 17 and 21, among others. The suit, filed under the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, seeks declarations that such practices are unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Speaking to Citi News, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, clarified that the Conference’s intervention is not to side with any particular party in the litigation. Instead, it aims to provide the court with valuable perspectives on religious tolerance and accommodation in mission schools.
He anchored the submission on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on religious tolerance in schools, adopted in April 2024 by government-assisted and private mission schools, in collaboration with major religious bodies, including Muslim groups, and the Ghana Education Service.
The MoU promotes mutual respect, reasonable accommodation for minority faiths, while allowing mission schools to operate in line with their founding religious ethos, values, and traditions.
The Bishops’ Conference emphasised that its amicus involvement seeks to contribute to a balanced deliberation on how to harmonise institutional heritage with constitutional protections for students’ religious freedoms.
The Supreme Court has previously ordered Wesley Girls’ authorities and other respondents to file responses to the allegations, with the matter still pending further hearings. No ruling has been delivered yet, despite earlier misinformation on social media claiming otherwise.