Ghana celebrates its reputation as an oasis of tolerance where Christians, Muslims, and traditional believers coexist peacefully. However, beneath this carefully cultivated image lies troubling reality: systematic religious discrimination occurring within institutions whilst society responds with dangerous silence.

History teaches that genocide emerges through stages, beginning with discrimination that society tolerates, normalises, then weaponises. Rwanda offers the starkest lesson. In January 1994, UN Commander Romeo Dallaire warned about weapons stockpiling and escalating Hutu-Tutsi violence. His warnings went unheeded. Within months, 800,000 people were massacred. The warning signs (systematic discrimination, hate speech calling Tutsis 'cockroaches', weaponisation of ethnic identity) were visible throughout the early 1990s, yet observers dismissed them as localised tensions.

Srebrenica demonstrates similar patterns. The Bosnian town, declared a UN 'safe area' in 1993, seemed protected. In March 1995, Radovan Karadžić directed forces to 'create an unbearable situation' for Srebrenica's inhabitants. Four months later, Bosnian Serb forces systematically executed over 8,000 Muslim males whilst UN peacekeepers stood by. The massacre occurred alongside institutional paralysis that mistook procedural caution for prudence.

Ghana faces its own warning signs. The Wesley Girls' School controversy, where Muslim students were prevented from fasting during Ramadan and wearing hijab, sparked national debate in 2021 and resurfaced in December 2024 with Supreme Court litigation. Similar incidents occurred at Adisadel College and Sekondi-Takoradi. These represent systematic patterns of religious non-accommodation within state-funded institutions.

What makes these incidents dangerous is not their severity (Ghana remains far from genocide). It is the loud silent response. Educated Ghanaians defend discrimination by invoking institutional heritage. Christian leaders argue that mission schools deserve special accommodation to restrict Muslim practice. Political figures remain silent, calculating that taking positions risks alienating constituencies (their votes). This silence signals consent.
The pattern mirrors early-stage warning signs documented in conflict studies: discrimination becomes accepted through institutional practice, elites provide justification, leadership avoids confrontation, and silence becomes tacit approval.

Ghana's National Peace Council and constitutional protections provide frameworks, yet institutions only function when citizens demand enforcement. Article 21 guarantees freedom of religion. The Ghana Education Service issued directives on religious tolerance in 2015 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding in April 2024. Yet schools continue violating these provisions whilst Attorney-General Dominic Ayine defends discriminatory practices.

Political leaders from both NDC and NPP have witnessed these tensions. Under NPP governance, President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Bawumia emphasised religious coexistence publicly whilst discrimination persisted. NDC's John Mahama, called for the respect for the rule of law, yet discrimination persisted. This bipartisan failure to stop this demon demonstrates collective unwillingness within some section of the population to address uncomfortable truths about religious privilege and discrimination.

Ghana must act now. Not because genocide is imminent nor because it is far from reality, but rather, because preventing conflict requires addressing discrimination whilst containable. The nation needs explicit anti-discrimination frameworks within educational institutions, enforcement mechanisms for constitutional protections, and acknowledgment that tolerance means protecting minority rights, not merely avoiding violence. The Peace Council should convene systematic dialogues. Parliament must legislate clear standards for state-funded institutions.

Rwanda and Bosnia teach that societies ignore warning signs at catastrophic cost. Ghana's peace is not inevitable; it is fragile, contingent on citizens choosing justice over comfort, confrontation over silence, constitutional principle over religious privilege. The question is whether we possess the courage to choose correctly before silence becomes complicity.
Long Live Mother Ghana and Continue to Make Her Great, Peaceful and Strong.