You will be a better Minister of Education. People turn to forget they were not forced to enroll in those schools and as such, must go by their rules. You don't come to my home and tell me you want to squat on my sofa instead ... read full comment
You will be a better Minister of Education. People turn to forget they were not forced to enroll in those schools and as such, must go by their rules. You don't come to my home and tell me you want to squat on my sofa instead of sitting. You want freedom, go to a public school. Try going into a Mosque with your shoes on and I can bet, you will receive an instant gratification of pain.
ADJOA WANGARA 11 years ago
This is a debate where the subtle mind francis kwarteng has no tincture of idea, because there is nothing to copy from somebody and paste as his argument.
This is a debate where the subtle mind francis kwarteng has no tincture of idea, because there is nothing to copy from somebody and paste as his argument.
Ben 11 years ago
You must be making a legend of this man Kwarteng.Every time Kwarteng,Kwarteng,Kwarteng,he must be a great man indeed,I envy him.
You must be making a legend of this man Kwarteng.Every time Kwarteng,Kwarteng,Kwarteng,he must be a great man indeed,I envy him.
USMAN 11 years ago
Muslims always quote Ghana's Constitution to buttress their fight for freedom of worship but they forget that the same constitution also stipulates that education shall be free and compulsory for all children at school going ... read full comment
Muslims always quote Ghana's Constitution to buttress their fight for freedom of worship but they forget that the same constitution also stipulates that education shall be free and compulsory for all children at school going age. Now all Kayayes are teenagers at school going age who work under the most dehumanizing conditions and it will interest Ghanaians to know that all Kayayes are Muslims from the north. Why are Muslims not putting pressure on Prez Mahama,a northerner, to bundle all of them into the classroom up north, since education is free up over there, instead of fighting for a freedom which does not exist.
Close Observer 11 years ago
''We have been vice presidents for far too long, it is time you make ONE OF YOUR OWN President.'' John Mahama.
WHAT ARE THE REST OF US TO JOHN MAHAMA?
THE USELESS NDC IS TURNING ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER
TURNING ONE RE ... read full comment
''We have been vice presidents for far too long, it is time you make ONE OF YOUR OWN President.'' John Mahama.
WHAT ARE THE REST OF US TO JOHN MAHAMA?
THE USELESS NDC IS TURNING ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER
TURNING ONE RELIGION AGAINST ANOTHER
THERE WAS EVEN AN ATTEMPT BY ATTA MILLS TO poison football clubs with politics just for the SELFISH INTEREST of the USELESS NDC PARTY.
Everything that units us as a peaceful nation is under attack by the USELESS NDC PARTY. Before they divide Ghana and leave us in shreds VOTE THE USELESS NDC PARTY OUT IN 2016.
We have lived peacefully without any TRIBAL OR RELIGIOUS POLITICS before the USELESS NDC PARTY WAS FORMED and their manifesto signed with blood. We don't need any division in Ghana. WE ARE INTER-MARRIED, AND WE ARE ONE PEOPLE. NDC IS DANGEROUS, VOTE THEM OUT IN 2016.
(GB3M3I KOME TOO DZI WO. GAM3I NY3KA NYI3AA AM3S33. NDC NFEE NY3 BULUU, NI AM3 NSHI NY3 Y3 OHIA MLI.)
An advice from a sensible GA who can read through the lines.
Felix Kwabla Amuzu 11 years ago
Why now? Well spoken.President Mahama seems to be confused
Mr President, do you know that the period for free Education in the North had elapsed?
Why now? Well spoken.President Mahama seems to be confused
Mr President, do you know that the period for free Education in the North had elapsed?
GOLD COAST 11 years ago
Sarfo is just beating about the bush with his jumbled and circumlocutory analysis.At the time most of these mission schools were established,the present Constitution was not in force. As long as the government funds these sch ... read full comment
Sarfo is just beating about the bush with his jumbled and circumlocutory analysis.At the time most of these mission schools were established,the present Constitution was not in force. As long as the government funds these schools - whether mission or secular - it is its responsibility to enforce all the freedoms entailed in the Constitution.Time and things change,so must the mission schools adjust to these changes.We are not in the 1800s - this is 2015.Bet you if the challenge goes all the way to the Supreme Court,the Government will win hands down.
Sarfo,who recently got out of law school should stop parading here as if he's the only lawyer in town.And by the way,he should stop calling himself "Dr.",as American lawyers don't use that prefix - not even Pres. Obama( a former law professor),and U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
PEACE
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago
@GOLD COAST. In this context, I'm sure the Supreme Court will likely consider and uphold the autonomy rights of the Mission Schools. Mission Schools have a constitutionally guaranteed right to reasonable autonomy as a matter ... read full comment
@GOLD COAST. In this context, I'm sure the Supreme Court will likely consider and uphold the autonomy rights of the Mission Schools. Mission Schools have a constitutionally guaranteed right to reasonable autonomy as a matter of convention in Ghana. That is why they've established education units.
Basically, the focus of your argument is on the state-funding of the Mission Schools. By arrangement, the Churches[Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, etc.] set up their schools, while the Government either partly or fully fund them. This arrangement do not in itself make the Mission Schools Public/Government schools. There is a fundamental distinction between Mission Schools and Public/Government schools regardless of the State-funding agreement.
Now, the question is : Will the Government nationalise or close down the Mission Schools if they fail to respect an unfavourable directive/outcome? Of course, this Government or any other Government will be treading in dangerous waters to go down that route.
Again, another question is : Why do Muslims who don't want to be exposed religious aspects attend Mission Schools? Why bother? If you choose to attend or enrol in Mission Schools, it means you voluntarily wish to go through and conform to the School's instructions, requirements, and religious aspects.
What is right is what works. That's why Mission Schools in Ghana are largely academically successful.
C.Y, ANDY-K 11 years ago
I am sorry your arguments are just as mischievous and porous as the original.
Times have changed and what was wrong must be put right.
Andy-K
I am sorry your arguments are just as mischievous and porous as the original.
Times have changed and what was wrong must be put right.
Andy-K
Israel Jude 11 years ago
You must be so foolish so as to rely only on this constitution to argue your case on this issue. The 1992 constitution has not abrogated all previous ones.
You must be so foolish so as to rely only on this constitution to argue your case on this issue. The 1992 constitution has not abrogated all previous ones.
USMAN 11 years ago
The Quran quotes Allah as saying that Jihad is, in fact not just a religious duty but a profitable commerce, a business. (Sura 61:10-12). In the Hadith, Mishkat ‘ul Masabih, Jihad is said to be: “............the best meth ... read full comment
The Quran quotes Allah as saying that Jihad is, in fact not just a religious duty but a profitable commerce, a business. (Sura 61:10-12). In the Hadith, Mishkat ‘ul Masabih, Jihad is said to be: “............the best method of earning (blessings) both spiritual and temporal. If victory is won, there is enormous booty of a country, which cannot be equated to any other source of income. If there is defeat or death, there is everlasting paradise....”
badag 11 years ago
The writer of this article has hit the nail on the head. very insightful
The writer of this article has hit the nail on the head. very insightful
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago
Thank you, Dr SAS. This is a reasonable perspective. A well-informed piece of common sense and irresistible logic. Religious devotion is intrinsic to and inseparable from Mission schools.
The Government's statements and at ... read full comment
Thank you, Dr SAS. This is a reasonable perspective. A well-informed piece of common sense and irresistible logic. Religious devotion is intrinsic to and inseparable from Mission schools.
The Government's statements and attempts to intimidate the Heads of the Mission schools were unwise.
Mission schools have their sufficient autonomy rights, religious character, traditions, values and ethos that should be respected, protected and preserved.
C.Y, ANDY-K 11 years ago
Kofi, unlike you, I think Dr SAS arguments are rather porous, in addition to your contribution here.
First, it wasn't Rawlings that introduced the assisting of missions schools. As a matter of historical fact, the CPP unde ... read full comment
Kofi, unlike you, I think Dr SAS arguments are rather porous, in addition to your contribution here.
First, it wasn't Rawlings that introduced the assisting of missions schools. As a matter of historical fact, the CPP under Nkrumah did that. Even as a child, I remember that it was pure taking over of the mission schools, with govt solely responsible for their funding and upkeep. Whatever extra the churches put in were/are regarded as private support from thereafter. "Mission schools" are therefore not independent, private institutions but just as public owned institutions like the ones built by the govts. The fact that the govt allows the churches to continue to attach priests to them and to continue their religious practices could be considered as anomaly long over due for redress. The present govt is therefore right in sending out those directives.
The Constitution supersedes all entities in the country,including the religious bodies. The Const. does not to specify the things listed by SAS in detail before we know that it is implied in the clear text. Nobody is saying the mission schools or any other shouldn't hold morning devotions. What is being said is that nobody, esp. non-Christians, should be forced to forced to participate in them, and failing that, be punished.
I asserted that right for myself long ago, and forcefully when in Lower 6 at Mawuli School, a mission founded school, in the mid-70s. I was one of a handful of students who refused to be caned for not attending morning devotion, and dared anyone to try to dismiss or suspend me. The whole of Ghana would have heard of me by then. Luckily, the school authorities were saved by the aluta over the undersize "borbor" - red-red - the folliwng weekend, with grievances linked to the caning, as the C'ttee set up to investigate the aluta found out.
So, to hell with anyone with the infernal, closed-minded, backward, reactionary, intolerant notions of forcing people who are not Christians to attend Christian devotional services because that was the case in the past! My sec. schl before I went to Mawuli did do that, and I don't think Mawuli forced Muslims to worship in a Christian manner. Even if the Const. said so, there is a need to amend that and remove the noxious clause, or re-interpret it in another way to change the const'nal interpretation, as K.C. Wheare's classic pointed out as one way consts change. Well, Dr. SAS is a lawyer and so I don't expect him to know this. Political science trumps law, you know?
Andy-K
C.Y, ANDY-K 11 years ago
I disagree. Read my short interjection below.
Andy-K
I disagree. Read my short interjection below.
Andy-K
Isaac (Rev. Fr.) 11 years ago
Thank you Dr. Sarfo for throwing light on the issue. Your contribution is authoritative, clear and coherent, and above all, legally strong.
Thank you Dr. Sarfo for throwing light on the issue. Your contribution is authoritative, clear and coherent, and above all, legally strong.
C.Y, ANDY-K 11 years ago
His arguments are porous and misleading.
How much are the churches contributing towards the running and upkeep of the so-called mission schools?
Andy-K
His arguments are porous and misleading.
How much are the churches contributing towards the running and upkeep of the so-called mission schools?
You will be a better Minister of Education. People turn to forget they were not forced to enroll in those schools and as such, must go by their rules. You don't come to my home and tell me you want to squat on my sofa instead ...
read full comment
This is a debate where the subtle mind francis kwarteng has no tincture of idea, because there is nothing to copy from somebody and paste as his argument.
You must be making a legend of this man Kwarteng.Every time Kwarteng,Kwarteng,Kwarteng,he must be a great man indeed,I envy him.
Muslims always quote Ghana's Constitution to buttress their fight for freedom of worship but they forget that the same constitution also stipulates that education shall be free and compulsory for all children at school going ...
read full comment
''We have been vice presidents for far too long, it is time you make ONE OF YOUR OWN President.'' John Mahama.
WHAT ARE THE REST OF US TO JOHN MAHAMA?
THE USELESS NDC IS TURNING ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER
TURNING ONE RE ...
read full comment
Why now? Well spoken.President Mahama seems to be confused
Mr President, do you know that the period for free Education in the North had elapsed?
Sarfo is just beating about the bush with his jumbled and circumlocutory analysis.At the time most of these mission schools were established,the present Constitution was not in force. As long as the government funds these sch ...
read full comment
@GOLD COAST. In this context, I'm sure the Supreme Court will likely consider and uphold the autonomy rights of the Mission Schools. Mission Schools have a constitutionally guaranteed right to reasonable autonomy as a matter ...
read full comment
I am sorry your arguments are just as mischievous and porous as the original.
Times have changed and what was wrong must be put right.
Andy-K
You must be so foolish so as to rely only on this constitution to argue your case on this issue. The 1992 constitution has not abrogated all previous ones.
The Quran quotes Allah as saying that Jihad is, in fact not just a religious duty but a profitable commerce, a business. (Sura 61:10-12). In the Hadith, Mishkat ‘ul Masabih, Jihad is said to be: “............the best meth ...
read full comment
The writer of this article has hit the nail on the head. very insightful
Thank you, Dr SAS. This is a reasonable perspective. A well-informed piece of common sense and irresistible logic. Religious devotion is intrinsic to and inseparable from Mission schools.
The Government's statements and at ...
read full comment
Kofi, unlike you, I think Dr SAS arguments are rather porous, in addition to your contribution here.
First, it wasn't Rawlings that introduced the assisting of missions schools. As a matter of historical fact, the CPP unde ...
read full comment
I disagree. Read my short interjection below.
Andy-K
Thank you Dr. Sarfo for throwing light on the issue. Your contribution is authoritative, clear and coherent, and above all, legally strong.
His arguments are porous and misleading.
How much are the churches contributing towards the running and upkeep of the so-called mission schools?
Andy-K