An Open Letter To Asantehene

: He Bans Funerals In Ashanti Region For 2 Months

Dear King:

For the next 2 months (April and May) you have issued an edict that bans funerals anywhere in the Ashanti region in celebration of odwira. Nana, can you tell the good people of the region what benefits they are likely to gain from your imposition? Is this a way to get back at those who prematurely wrote your obituary a few months ago? Is this a way of demonstrating your “mighty” power to the people? As a wild guess, I doubt you are doing this to honor and glorify God Almighty (who has the power over life and death), but rather to pacify so called gods of the land. My reason for implying this is quite simple: God is not into pagan rituals, worship, and celebrations. Nana, consider this; will the ban stimulate/promote the economy of the region, or will it be a job killer for some people?

Nana, why can’t you celebrate odwira and let the people hold funerals at the same time? Are funerals the enemy of odwira? Well, if funerals were the enemy of odwira, it would stand to reason that the celebration would bring about the cessation of death itself. But of course we all know the obvious. God who created humans doesn’t put a ban on funerals for any reason, so why should you? You claim it’s your land, and so you can do whatever you please. With all due respect, it’s not your land. It belongs to God. The Bible says: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1).

Nana, I don’t know if you realize the financial cost, pain, and anger your sudden edict has brought on a cross section of society. You had people scrambling everywhere to cram funerals into the month of March just to beat your (ban) deadline. The effect isn’t just local, it actually extends beyond the borders of the Ashanti Region. It has affected me personally, it has affected some friends of mine, and it has affected untold number of people in diverse ways. You see, my deceased cousin’s funeral was originally scheduled for April 5, 2014. We set this date because it was convenient for family members abroad to be able to travel home to pay their last respects. However because of your sudden edict, we had to move the date (3 weeks) forward to March 15, 2014; the only date available to us in the month of March. Long story short, my cousin’s two children who live abroad and had planned to come home to see their father for the last time were unable to do so because of your out of the blue edict. A family member who made it to the funeral, made it at the nick of time at (extra) unnecessary expense. She had to pay extra so as to get her travel documents processed expeditiously. Traveling from overseas to Ghana is not as simple and easy as traveling from Kumasi to one’s village. It involves things like making sure one’s traveling documents are current, applying and getting time off from one’s place of employment, making airline reservation, etc. All these involve time, money and careful planning.

I have even heard of a family who have had to move the funeral of a loved one from Kumasi to Accra because of your edict. The deceased lived in the USA. Nana do you realize the inconvenience(s) and unnecessary expenditures this family has had to encounter because of your edict?

One of the responsibilities of leaders is to create conditions conducive to economic growth within their jurisdiction. Your action will rather create the opposite. Instead of creating employment, you are rather creating unemployment by your edict. For the next two months, persons engaged in making their living in the following trades are temporarily going to be out of work, or lose income: Casket makers, food caterers, hoteliers, funeral cloth sellers, tent and chair renters, drink sellers, sachet water sellers, handkerchief, PK and hacks sellers etc. Nana, how are these people supposed to take care of themselves and their families in the duration of your edict? Did you really think about the negative economic effect your edict was going to have on people such as these?

In closing, I would like to offer a few suggestions if you don’t mind: I understand you are a Christian. If that is true, I suggest you totally rely on, trust in, and worship God Almighty, and Him alone. Remember what the first Commandment says:--------“ You shall have no other gods before me----- (Deut 5:7). I also think you seriously need to consider evaluating some of our customs, culture and traditions, and do away with those that impede our progress as a people. Become a reformer. It will be good for your legacy. It is important also to recognize what time it is!! Last but not the least, citizens of the region will appreciate at least a year’s advance notice of an impending ban should you see the need to exercise this power again. Personally, I propose you scrap it altogether.

God bless you.

Sincerely,

Yaw Boakye