News & Current Affairs
Kassena-Nankana Chiefs Call for Moderation as Funeral Costs Soar
Two Kassena-Nankana chiefs say funerals are turning into costly festivals, pushing families into debt and eroding tradition.
Two traditional leaders in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region have called on families to scale back funeral celebrations, warning that rising costs are pushing households into debt and wearing away the customs funerals were meant to uphold, according to Mike FM in Navrongo.
Pe Pascal Pwadam Zamdoe Adoeba, Chief of the Punyoro Zamdonia Divisional Area in Pungu, and Naaba Clement Asakiya Anontara, Chief of the Agayea Divisional Area of Doba, made the case on the station’s Voices of Change programme on Saturday, November 7.
“Celebrate in moderation”
Pe Pwadam said funerals, once occasions for mourning and honouring the dead, are increasingly taking on the character of festivals and social competitions. He criticised the practice of keeping bodies in mortuaries for long periods while families prepare elaborate ceremonies, as well as newer demands such as compulsory contributions and matching outfits, which he said were foreign to local custom and left relatives who could not afford them feeling excluded.
He warned against taking loans to fund funerals, saying such debts often outlast the ceremony, and called for public education on responsible funeral practices. Families should organise funerals within their means, he said, and “celebrate in moderation”.
Costs and lost traditions
Naaba Anontara said drumming and dancing were traditionally reserved for the funerals of elders who had lived to see grandchildren, but are now common at the funerals of younger people. He said the old practice of neighbours cooking for bereaved families has given way to mourners expecting to be fed by them.
Citing a recent study, he said an average funeral in Ghana now costs between GH¢15,000 and GH¢95,000, with elaborate ceremonies reaching GH¢200,000. The study was not named, and TheSavannaOnline has not been able to verify the figures.
Both chiefs urged traditional authorities, families and cultural groups to protect indigenous funeral rites while keeping costs within what bereaved families can bear.
Source: Mike FM — https://mikeradioonline.com/pe-pwadam-calls-for-an-end-to-extravagant-funeral-celebrations/ ; Mike FM — https://mikeradioonline.com/commercialisation-of-funerals-threatens-cultural-identity-burdens-families-financially-chief-anontara/
