Debate about expensive funerals

A video of the Wenchi Traditional Council announcing new measures regarding holding funerals and ‘one-week observance’ went viral recently and re-triggered the national conversation on funerals and in particular, what is viewed usually as ‘expensive funerals’ in Ghana.

From time to time, some churches and traditional authorities try to regular funerals and marriages to cut costs to ‘save people’ from incurring avoidable debts. Good intentions, perhaps.

Expensive or extravagant funerals

In "Funerals among the Akan people: some perspectives from Asante" by Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Emmanuel Antwi Fordjour, Charles Ofosu Marfo, Isaac Adjei Forson (Revista de Etnologie Si Culturologie 2020, Volume xxvii), a typical funeral in the Akan region of Ghana is often known to cost nearly as much as one Ghanaian's yearly income.

Money is collected, borrowed and donated toward the execution of a perfect funeral success being measured by extravagance and attendance.

The occasion requires intense planning and spending for space, service conductors, seating arrangements, clothing, musicians, transport, activities, coffins and elaborate banquets.

The motivation behind these lavish funerals is multi-dimensional and the popularisation of these traditions has contributed greatly to the commercialisation and secularisation of funerals in Ghana, as well as the resulting economic benefits which make people talk about funeral tourism as a way of boosting domestic tourism.

Second, there is the more familiar motivator of honouring the memory of a deceased person's life, as well as embracing the "hereafter" towards which the deceased is headed.

The social drive works to promote the surviving relatives, reinforcing the sincerity and meaningfulness of relationships through a material display of devotional "proof," as well as meeting the social expectations of public grieving.

There is an argument regarding what makes a funeral branded as expensive and who determines so because the stature of the deceased and his or her family background are the driving forces behind the type of funerals; starting from the type of coffin, what type of music group, the hiring services for chairs and canopies, the hotels to book for mourners who travel from all walks of life etc.

Fantasy, costly coffins

Among the issues raised about expensive funerals in Ghana is the use of fanciful and customised coffins.

While the value of fantasy coffins in Ghana is of a ritual and social nature, their popularity as contemporary African art objects is growing. In the academic conversation surrounding the tradition, there is of course a tension between the coffins as symbols and the coffins as artworks as African art becomes increasingly commodified on an international scale.

This attraction to the dead object is an addition to a growing contemporary art collection.

Debate

Those who don’t agree with the attempts to regulate funeral celebrations, ask questions about whether it is not a family’s choice. Others say, the funeral value chain rather can be considered as an economic booster as one looks at spending on mortuary services, undertakers, garment producers and cloth designers, caterers, musicians, transportation etc which are all part of the budgets of funerals.

Other schools of thought also look at how funerals lead to refurbishments of homes or family homes of the deceased. How communities generally benefit as roads are reconstructed or repaved, replacements of street bulbs and rehabilitation of public buildings when the dead is a public figure, especially a political figure.

The issue is, will nananom and other bodies stop what can be described as ‘expensive funerals’ when they involve a personality of high social and national standing, including nananom themselves?

Conclusion

Can we look at families holding on with the burial and funeral for several months, which compound the expenses?

The answer has always been that some family members abroad love to be home to join in the mourning.

Recently, the Vice-President of Malawi died and in five days, his burial and funeral were done. More examples abound out there. Can we consider that?

The writer is a Journalist/Managing Director of ITV Gh; Adjunct lecturer, the University of Applied Management (UAM), Ghana Campus & the Jayee University College.

E-mail:kaksgh@yahoo.com