A member of the National Advisory Council of the Scripture Union, Reverend Dr. Samuel Ofori Onwona, is threatening to lead a campaign against the New Patriotic Party (NPP) if Wesley Girls Senior High School is instructed to allow Muslim students to fast in the school.
Although he recognizes the government’s financial support to the schools, Dr Samuel Ofori believes it should not impose the wishes of ‘minority Muslims’ on Christians who form the majority in the country.
He warned the Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum, to stay off the matter, stressing that any move to give authorization to Muslims to fast in the school will be vehemently resisted. Dr Samuel Ofori reckons the move by government to grant special dispensation to the affected students to exercise their faith is an act that could jeopardize the harmony that exists between Muslims and Christians in the country.
He charged President Akufo-Addo to stay true to his Christian faith and not allow the students to fast in the schools.
“The fact that government is financing the schools doesn’t mean we are going to throw away our faith. We are a Christian majority. The Minister of Education has no right to make that decision without talking to the leadership of the church. The Minister of Education must rescind that decision. We’ll not tolerate that.”
“You can’t go to a Muslim school and tell them how to handle Muslims. They don’t even take many of them. Please, Mr. President, you are setting up this nation for trouble. Put your feet down. You are a Christian and we are the Christian majority, if you allow this decision to pass, we’ll organize campaigns against you and NPP and look for any party that is prepared to allow the Christian majority to have our way. It is a Methodist Church and they said no room for fasting, it’s as simple as that, “ he said in a viral video.
There seems to be a stand-off between a section of the Christian faith and the Muslim society over a decision by the authorities of the school to prevent the students from fasting. A statement by the Ghana Education Service ordering the school to backtrack on its earlier stance has been met with condemnation from the Methodist Church of Ghana which has pitched sides with the school.
The Methodist Church in its protest against the decision by the GES said, the school, “cannot accede to the unilateral directive issued by the Ghana Education Service”. The position of the church has also been backed by the Catholic Church and the Christian Council.
In a joint statement, the two institutions said, “We have discussed the issue prayerfully and have studied the various press statements that some stakeholders have released on the matter.
“We wish to endorse the position of the Methodist Church Ghana, which they succinctly outlined in their May 4, 2021, press release, and reiterate that the decision of the Wesley Girls Senior High School authorities on fasting is purely in the interest of the students.”
Listen to his full assertion below:
