Kwesi Pratt
Popular Pan-africanist Kwesi Pratt has rained lots of praises on the Rastafarian parents who’s wards were refused enrollment into Accra’s Achimota school for embarking on a legal travel for their reasonable rights.
In March 2021, the management of the Achimota School made it known loudly that the school would allow the Rastafarian students named Tyron Iras Marhguy and Oheneba Kwaku Nkrabea to be enrolled only when they collapse their dreadlocks and insisted on this based on the rules the school is governed with.
Parents of the students upon knowing this and having such a believed unfair treatment expressed their dissent to the decision by the Achimota school and sued the school, the Minister of Education, Ghana Education Service and the Attorney General.
Praying to the court they said to the court to “declare that the failure and or refusal of the 1st Respondent (Achimota School Board of Governors) to admit or enroll the Applicant on the basis of his Rastafarian religious inclination, beliefs and culture characterized by his keeping of Rasta, is a violation of his fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under the 1992 constitution particularly Articles 12(1), 23, 21(1)(b)(c)” and further requested ”an order directed at [Achimota School] to immediately admit or enrol the applicant to continue with his education unhindered” and also sought compensation for the ”inconvenience, embarrassment, waste of time, and violation of his fundamental human rights and freedoms”.
After few weeks of back and forth a amidst court trial, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo ruled in favor of the students and ordered the Achimota School to admit them stressing their fundamental human rights cannot be limited by the rules.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper and owner of Pan-african Television in the person of Mr Kwesi Pratt indicated that, seeking a reconsideration through legal action by the parents was the right way to settle the issue.
Mr Pratt commended the Rastafarian community for not resorting to violence or backing down but rather putting the laws of the nation to work.
The activist said that the court ruling is a ”major victory for the Rastafarian community”.
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