Accra, May 07, GNA – The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa, (FOSDA), has called on parties in the recent impasse at Wesley Girls’ High School to find a win-win solution to issue.
The School which is aligned with the Methodist Church of Ghana prevented a Moslem student from observing the Ramadan Fast for health reasons.
A statement issued by Mrs Theodora W. Anti, Programmes Manager of FOSDA, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the Foundation was worried that the impasse had taken on a religious undertone and threatening the very foundation of the peace Ghana is enjoying and known for.
“We are even more concerned about the entrenched positions by both pro-Christian and pro-Islam stakeholders to defend or condemn the actions of the school,” it said.
“This is a serious threat to the peace-coexistence among Christians and Moslems in Ghana.”
It noted that peaceful co-existence among the two religions was one of the country’s strongest resilient factors against violent conflicts and violent extremism.
“It is important that all stakeholders, especially leaders of the two religions, work to sustain this resilience.”
It said FOSDA was therefore, calling on all stakeholders to avoid entrenched positions as efforts are made to find amicable and lasting solutions to the issue.
The group called on all stakeholders to analyse the situation objectively and from a long term perspective for a sustainable solution.
“We reiterate the call of the National Peace Council that all especially leaders of the various religious bodies to be circumspect in their utterance and be careful not to spread negative emotions about the two religions in question,” it said.
It urged the Ghana Education Service to as a matter of urgency hold consultations to address the issue of school rules, systems and standards in the face of human rights guaranteed by the constitution as well as the changing values of society to avoid any avoidable conflict.
GNA