from mapscript import mapObj,layerObj
wkt = '''GEOGCS["GCS_Sphere_ARC_INFO",DATUM["Sphere_ARC_INFO",SPHEROID["Sphere_ARC_INFO",6370997,0]],PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],UNIT["Degree",0.017453292519943295],AUTHORITY["EPSG","37008"]]'''
m = mapObj('')
m.setWKTProjection(wkt)
lyr = layerObj(m)
lyr.setWKTProjection(wkt)