Members of the National Peace Council in a group picture with the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu
The National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, has called on Ghanaians not to destroy the peace being enjoyed in the country and always strive to promote religious diversity.
He said “even though we may belong to different religious backgrounds and race, our origin trace back to Adam and Eve,” adding “This diversity is not to fight, God’s reason is for us to complement and help each other and not to be at war with each other.”
The Chief Imam made this known when the leadership of the National Peace Council called on him to help resolve the Wesley Girls’ Senior High School vis-à-vis Muslim students’ brouhaha.
He continued that “whatever may have happened, Ghanaians must remember that God has been gracious to us with the peace we continue to enjoy.”
The National Chief Imam advised Christians and Muslims to apply what God said in his Holy Quran that “communicate in a name that is good and not bad.”
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Reverend Dr. Ernest Adu Gyamfi, commended the National Chief Imam for calling on the Muslim community to remain calm as authorities work to resolve the matter.
He said they believe the appeal helped to reduce the tension in the country.
He said the Peace Council had met all stakeholders in the matter including the school’s authorities, the leadership of the Methodist Church, the old students association, and the Parent Teacher Association to resolve the matter.
“In our interaction with the Minister of Education, we have come to a consensus that within the next two weeks, there should be a Memorandum of Understanding governing all mission and public schools in this country, also specifying clearly the rights and privileges and also the responsibilities of every individual who goes to these schools,” he disclosed.
He said “we want these to be documented and signed by all parties who agree to it and at the end of the day, once you take that document, everybody knows what can be done and what cannot be done and we believe that if this is pursued to its logical conclusion, this matter will come to an end and Ghana will not see this again.”
Rev. Dr. Adu Gyamfi maintained that the intended guideline will also incorporate some of the issues that the Peace Council recommended in 2015 when the hijab issue came up where some recommendations were made but had not be implemented to its logical conclusion.
“We are bringing those recommendations into this new document so that at the end of the day everybody in this country will be satisfied and when the draft is done, it will be brought back to all of us, every party will look at it and ensure that we are all satisfied and once it is signed, everybody in this country will know what to do and what not to do,” he added.
Maulvi Mohammed Bin Dalih, the head of Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, Alhaji Mamah Gado Mohammed, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Chief Imam and Chief Baba Issah of the National Council of Zongo Chiefs, all called for calm as authorities find solutions to the impasse.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey