Chief Imam calls for calm

Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharabutu, National Chief Imam at the weekend expressed worry that Muslim students in public second cycle institutions in the country are being forced to attend church services by school authorities.

The National Chief Imam described the situation as unpleasant and said if not properly handled it would undermine national peace and “lead some people to take the law into their hands”.

Sheikh Sharabutu raised the concerns in a speech read on his behalf at the 18th annual National Ramadan conference which ended in Sunyani.

The three-day conference attended by Muslim leaders and Chief Imams was under the theme “consolidating democracy and good governance – the contributions of Muslims”.

Sheikh Sharabutu emphasized that as the 1992 constitution guaranteed the freedom of association and that of religion, there was no circumstance under which Muslim students should be forced to attend church services.

He called on the government and all those who matter on the issue to do something urgently before the situation got out of hand.

“Let us tolerate one another and continue to live in peace and harmony as Ghanaian Muslims, Christians and Traditionalists”, the national chief Imam stated.

Sheikh Sharabutu called on all religious leaders to continue to pray for peace and harmony before, during and after the upcoming general election in December.

A communiqué issued at the end of the three-day conference called on security agencies to heed to early warning signals and be more proactive to prevent conflicts from erupting into violence as the elections drew nearer.

It condemned the exhumation of the body of the late Imam of Hohoe in the Volta Region that sparked off violence in the community.

The communiqué noted that intemperate language and insults in political campaigns would not help in any way and appealed to politicians to be circumspect in discussing politics both in the print and the electronic media.

It also called on all stakeholders, especially those in educational institutions to desist from forcing Muslim students to worship outside their faith.**