The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra – The leadership of the Methodist Church in Ghana have assured Muslims of its commitment to resolving the impasse arising from the decision of the management of Wesley Girls Senior High School to disallow Muslim girls from observing the Ramadan fast, while in School.

The Church headed by the Presiding Bishop, Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo gave the assurance when they met a Muslim delegation led by the Minority Chief Whip in Parliament who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka.

At the meeting held on Wednesday, the presiding bishop indicated that the Board of the school will be meeting in earnest to discuss the issue and the concerns of the Muslim delegation as far as the school’s directive was concerned.

In a statement released on Thursday by the Muslim Caucus of Parliament, the parliamentarians are urging all Muslims to exercise self-restraint in accordance with stipulations of the Holy Month of Ramadhan and the religion as a whole.

“The church pledged to keep the delegation informed on the specific decision taken at the meeting regarding the resolution of the issue at stake” the statement read.

It further thanked the leadership of the Methodist Church led by the Presiding Bishop for the warm reception and the assurances which it noted highlighted the principle of inclusiveness associated with Methodist education in Ghana.

Other members of the delegation included Mp for Asutifi South Collins Dauda, MP for Gushegu Hassan Tampuli, and Mp for Tolon constituency Habib Iddrisu, representing the two political parties in parliament.

The others were representatives; from the office of National Chief Imam, Mallam Awal Shuaib, Ahlus Sunnah Waljamaa, Sheik Salman Mohammed Alhassan, the Executive Director of Baraka Policy Institute (BPI) Dr Haruna Zagoon- Sayeed, Supt Imam Hussein Abdul-Rahim of Ghana Police Service Islamic Affairs and Secretary to the Muslim Caucus in Parliament Alhaji Inusah.

According to reports, an angry father who drove from Accra to Cape Coast on Monday, April 26, stormed Wesley Girls High School to withdraw his ward from the school saying he does not understand why the school does not permit her and other Muslims to fast.

However, school authorities had explained to him that their reasons for not letting students, no matter their religious affiliation, fast was due to health reasons, as there were concerns of students developing ulcers because of the action