Judge who ruled in favour of Rastafarians must be celebrated – Ghanaians told

Editor-in-Chief of the Hawk newspaper, Charles McCarthy, has urged Ghanaians to celebrate Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, the judge who ruled that the fundamental human rights of two Rastafarian students cannot be limited by Achimota’s rules in question.

Charles was of the view that the judge had shown courage in the face of insistence from old students and authorities from the school.

Speaking to Happy FM’s Don Prah on the ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ show, he expressed: “The judge who gave the ruling needs to be celebrated. She deserves the celebration of this country. If there should ever be an award by the President, the award should be given to her.

These are the people universities must identify and give them honorary degrees for upholding human rights and human dignity. Looking at the status of Achimota and the old students all in favour of the school’s decision, I think she was courageous enough.

She [Justice Gifty Agyei Addo] said as far as the constitution says this, this is how we will go by it so Achimota must go and amend their rules and regulations to be able to admit these people. I think her ruling was good for democracy”.

Commenting on the refusal of Achimota to admit the two students based on their hair, the editor noted that he was disappointed in how Ghanaians will appreciate a foreign way of life and downgrade their own culture in the name of civilization. He believed that if women were comfortable with artificial extensions, then there should be no problem for children who want to keep their natural hair.

Applauding the decision of the judge, he said: “until this decision is overturned, we must abide by this ruling and that is the way to go”.

Background

Achimota School became the center of debate when it refused to admit two Rastafarian students. This saw a section of the Ghanaian public criticizing the school authorities with others standing with them.

It can be recalled that the GES rescinded its decision to allow Achimota School admit the Rastafarian students and subsequently threw its support to the school for refusing to admit the students.

In recent news, however, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court has ordered Achimota School to admit the two Rastafarian students, after the two sued the school’s board of Governors, the Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service and the Attorney General to enforce their fundamental Human Rights.