Senior presidential staffer, Nana Yaa Jantuah, has urged stakeholders to focus on tolerance and respect for worship amid the ongoing controversy over religious rights at Wesley Girls Senior High School.

In an exclusive interview on the AM Show, she said students attending faith-based schools must adhere to school rules, but provisions should exist to allow them to practice their religion freely.

“We should not try to invoke the matter. If you are a Muslim girl, a Christian girl, go to a Muslim school a Christian boy, you go—you have to adhere to the rules. But provisions should be made for people to worship,” Nana Yaa Jantuah said. She highlighted Ghana’s history of interfaith respect, noting the cooperation between religious leaders and mixed-faith marriages as examples of the country’s tolerance.

The remarks come amid a legal challenge brought against Wesley Girls by Shafic Osman, a private legal practitioner, who filed a suit on December 24, 2024. Osman alleges that the Methodist-founded school restricts Muslim students from observing religious duties such as fasting and prayer and compels participation in Christian religious activities. He contends that this amounts to systemic religious discrimination.

The issue gained renewed attention on November 25 when the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Gabriel Scott Pawmang, directed the school to respond within 14 days to allegations that it violates the religious rights of Muslim students. The Court expressed concern that an earlier statement from the school, submitted via the Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine, did not fully address the core factual claims.

Dr Ayine argued that the school retains the right to implement rules aligned with its Christian mission.

Nana Yaa Jantuah emphasised the importance of tolerance and interfaith respect, pointing to Ghana’s tradition where religious leaders actively participate in each other’s ceremonies. “The national chief imam of the Islamic community contributes to the building of the cathedral.

The chief imam goes to the Catholic church for a funeral. Sit in church, sit through the service. It’s beautiful. Do you get me? Those are tolerant people,” she said.

The Supreme Court’s directive now requires the Wesley Girls Board of Governors to respond directly to the allegations within 14 days.