President Mahama has said government will sanction heads of institutions who prevent Muslim women from wearing hijabs at work places and schools.
Earlier reports indicated that women and girls were being prevented from wearing their hijabs, a traditional scarf worn by Muslim women to cover their hair and neck and sometimes their face, to work and in schools.
The situation compelled the Muslim community in the Western to protest what they called human right abuses of Muslims in the country.
However President Mahama on Thursday said it is wrong for children to prevent Muslim women from wearing hijab or nuns from wearing their habits to work or school.
He remarked that “appropriate sanctions” will be taken against any head of institution who acts contrary to the constuitional provisions of Ghana.
According to him, “constitution in Article 21, Clause 1, guarantees the freedom of religion and the freedom to manifest one’s religious beliefs.”
This not the first time government has condemned the act of preventing Muslims from wearing their hijabs in schools and at work places.
The Ministry of Communication earlier issued a statement, instructing heads of institutions to allow Muslim women to wear their hijabs to work or school.
A statement issued by the Minister of Communications Edward Omane Boamah said “we consider it not only as religious intolerance, but also a breach of the 1992 Constitution of the republic of Ghana, for Muslim students to be forced to take off their hijabs in schools.”
“In much the same way, it is unacceptable for Muslim students to be forced to attend church services in schools, especially when it seeks to introduce those students to a religion, which they may not subscribe to…”
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana