One of the Rastafarian students at the centre of the enrollment scandal at the Achimota School, Tyrone Marhguy, has allegedly cut his father with a sharp object after a misunderstanding, Tereo Marghuy, the father, has alleged.
The father was left with a bloody arm from deep cuts after what seemed like a brawl between him and the son.
In a video shared on social media, Tereo said his insolent son, who has developed strange behaviour, violently attacked him after a confrontation.
Tereo, who appeared furious over the incident, threatened not to hold back the next time as he accused the boy of constantly misbehaving at home.
“This is the third time something like this is happening because he walked over me, and I rushed at him. I wanted to slap him for doing that; he does it every time, and he gripped my hand so hard, I don’t know if he had something or whatever with him, and this is what he has done,” he said, as he showed the injured hand in the video.
Narrating what led to the assault, Tereo explained that Tyron damaged his sister’s tablet, and they were supposed to take it to the repairer.
“The sister came to tell me they were taking the laptop to the repairer… I went to see them in the room, and she said Tyron is not ready. Long story short, they had an argument and so I went back there to ask him why, and he just unplugged the laptop and started to walk over me, and he’s been doing this all these years, and which his mother tolerates”, Tereo alleged.
“She [mother] even asked me one time why I don’t want anybody to have peace in this house when my son does something wrong, and I’m telling him.”
“Even before the Achimota case, he [Tyron] was so arrogant, and so I wasn’t even ready to follow him anywhere. I went to the court with him and defended him just for the sake of humanity, for the sake of Rasta. If it had been only because of this boy, I wouldn’t have gone,” he said in anger.
He said the son does not accord him the necessary respect and refuses even to assist when he returns from work with heavy loads.
The Marghuy family made headlines when Tyron and another Rastafarian student, Oheneba Nkrabea, were denied admission to the Achimota School because of their dreadlocks.
How it all started
A parent of one of the affected students, Ras Aswad Nkrabea, took to social media to express his frustration over the development.
“The school authorities denied two brilliant dreadlocked students from being admitted after being posted there by the Computer School Placement System.
“My son was one of the affected children, and the other student was also refused on the same grounds,” the disappointed father narrated in a Facebook post.
This generated a public uproar, with a section of Ghanaians calling out the school for discriminating against the students.
The development sparked public outrage on social media, with a section of the public condemning the actions of the authorities at Achimota School.
The Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, vehemently condemned the decision of the school to deny the Rastafarian students admission.
Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana establishes the right of the Ghanaian citizenry to have access to equal educational opportunities and facilities.
Mr Asare pointed out that the authorities at Achimota School have breached this provision of the constitution.
“The issue of education being a right is explicit in Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution… Section 3 and 8 of Act 560 explicitly states that no person shall discriminate against a child on the grounds of Religion and Custom.
“And in section A, the same Act provides that no person shall deprive the child of access to education. Based on Article 25 of our constitution and its attendant regulations in the Children’s Act, no agency in this country has the right to deprive a child of the right to education.
“They’re wrong. I’m not the one saying they’re wrong. The Act of Parliament, Act 560, Section A is saying they’re wrong because they have discriminated against the child and denied the child his right to education,” Mr Asare said in an earlier interview.
It is almost an annual ordeal for Rastafarian families to be denied admission into second cycle institutions due to their dreadlocks.
Kofi Asare charged the Rastafarian Council of Ghana to go to court to end their frustrations.
Court’s Ruling
On 31 May 2021, the Accra High Court ordered Achimota School to admit the two Rastafarian students who were earlier denied admission.
The two were denied admission because of their dreadlocks, but the court presided over by Justice Gifty Adjei Addo said the denial violated their human rights.
“What has the wearing of dreadlocks which is a manifestation of one’s religious rights, got to do with upholding the discipline in the school?” she quizzed.
“I reject the argument of the respondents that upholding the reliefs of the applicant will discriminate against other students who abide by the rules of the school.
“Fundamental human rights are not absolute and can be limited by statutes and policies, but this must be juxtaposed with the public interest as in this current case.
“What reasonable justification has been put before the court in the implementation of school rules to convince the court to rule in favour of the respondents,” she noted.
The judge pointed out that the ultimate aim of the rules was to enhance discipline and academic excellence. She wondered how keeping the dreadlocks would affect the school community regarding the two disciplines.
“How keeping low hair enhances hygiene in the school has not been expressed in this court and how the applicant keeping his dreadlocks would affect his health and the health of other students,” she reiterated.
After the ruling, Achimota School, through its legal team, announced they would appeal the decision and call for a stay of execution to suspend the execution of the court judgment.
“We have instructed our lawyers to appeal the decision,” a statement by the school said.
But the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, and Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, insisted the two dreadlock-wearing Rastafarian students must be amitted by the school.
“The President will be concerned about any action which will prevent them [Rastafarian students] from going to school. So if students ought to go to school, the school ought to open its doors to them,” Mr. Dame said.
The education minister under whose ministry the Achimota school reports through the Ghana Education Service reiterated the Attorney General’s stand.
“I am very surprised. They cannot take that unilateral decision. I’m waiting for a full briefing from the Attorney General who I commend for going to court, so nobody can preempt us,” he added.
Subsequently, in another statement on Wednesday, 2 June 2021, the school’s board said after consultations with relevant stakeholders, it had considered the interest of all parties.
The statement, however, added that it was committed to an appeal against the ruling of the High Court but backed down on the application for a stay of execution.
“Further to our statement issued on 1 June 2021 on the subject of two Rastafarian applicants, we have been in consultation with other relevant stakeholders to seek the best ways forward, taking into account the interests of all parties.
“While the board remains committed to the appeal against the High Court ruling, it will withdraw the application for a stay of execution pending the determination of the appeal by a higher court.”
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