The former Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) sharing his views on the brouhaha between Achimota School, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the two Rastafarian students, said if the students were Muslims, they would have been admitted without facing rejection adding that Islam was a recognised religion in Ghana but Rastafarianism was not recognised.
In an interview on Accra-based Peace FM, Nana Akomea said "That religion called Rasta is not recognized in Ghana . . . What has happened wouldn't have happened if we recognized it. If the child who was admitted into Achimota school was wearing a hijab, won't he have been accepted? He would have been accepted because we recognize that religion."
"There wouldn't have been any problem if he had a hijab on...we have freedom of religion, freedom of worship but you know the rights that the constitution gives, there have to be rules to exercise that right. We have the right to vote but you must go through a procedure. You must go through rules," he added.
Meanwhile, the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu has said Rastafarians should establish their own schools if they want to admit students with dreadlock in the country.
Addressing the press in Accra on Monday, March 22, 2021, Carbonu said Achimota School did not refuse to admit the students but the school only spelled out the rules and regulations of the school to the parent and the student.
He said: "I don't even know why the Rastafarians don't have their own schools, because they've been in this country [Ghana] for a very long time."
"We expect that if you want to be in that school, you obey the rules and regulations. The rules and regulations of an institution are not chosen and picked by individuals, they become standard and ought to be obeyed by anyone who wants to access the school," he added.
Listen to Nana Akomea below: