Achimota School And The Attorney General Drag Rastafarian Pupils Back To Court On Appeal

To challenge the High Court’s decision to admit Tyrone Iras Marhguy and Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea as Rastafarian students, Achimota School and the Attorney-General went back to court on Monday.

As a result of their refusal to be enrolled, the boys filed a lawsuit against the Achimota School Board of Governors, Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service, and the Attorney General.

The school had indicated at the time that the boys had to trim their dreadlocks, and that refusal to do so violated its rules and regulations.

However, on May 31, the Accra High Court’s Human Rights Division, chaired by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, decided that the two students’ fundamental human rights could not be constrained by school rules.

Per the judgment, Achimota School and its supporters, including GES and the Attorney General, failed to demonstrate why the two kids should not be accepted.

She based her argument on the fundamental human rights granted by the Ghanaian Constitution of 1992, particularly the rights of boys to education and religious freedom.

In its appeal, Achimota School claims that the High Court erred in ruling that the school’s rules and regulations requiring conformity in appearance are illegal and infringe on one’s religious liberties.

As a result, the school is requesting that the Appeals Court overturn the High Court’s decision and require the plaintiffs to follow the school’s rules if they choose to be students there.