Mpraeso MP Davis Ansah Ohokay proposes two-box solution to PAC Quran-Bible row

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Mpraeso and Deputy Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Davis Ansah Opoku, has waded into the controversy surrounding the headmistress of Islamic Girls’ Senior High School, Mrs. Safia Salifu, calling for a simple accommodation of her religious concerns.

The headmistress had drawn criticism for referring to the Holy Bible as “other documents” during a PAC sitting, while requesting separate, ritually respectful handling of the Quran. The committee’s chair, Abena Osei-Asare, had rejected the request, insisting on equal treatment of all religious texts as mere oath instruments.

However, Deputy Chairman Opoku struck a conciliatory tone, stressing that the PAC is not a religious body and must listen to genuine concerns.

“We have to listen because it’s a concern, and sometimes we all learn. The Public Accounts Committee is not there to champion any religion or to downplay any religion, and so if she feels that we do not need to mix the Quran with the Bible, then we have to find ways of correcting it,” Opoku said.

He proposed a straightforward administrative fix: “I mean, all it takes is to have two boxes, put the Bible here and put the Quran here.”

Opoku noted that the committee’s sole purpose regarding the texts is oath-taking, not reading or religious instruction. “We are not there to read the Quran. We are not there to read the Bible. We are there to take the oath. But the lady has now exposed us to something that is of worry to her faith.”

The Mpraeso MP assured that the matter will be revisited at the next sitting. “The next time we sit, we are going to see that,” he said, adding that further consultations with other faiths would be necessary.

The intervention has reignited debate over religious accommodation versus institutional neutrality in Ghana’s public hearings.