A long-overdue intervention at Osu Cemetery

THE decision by the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) to suspend burial activities at the Osu Cemetery is a necessary and commendable step. However, it also exposes a persistent weakness in Ghana’s system of public administration: a culture of reaction rather than prevention. While the Assembly deserves credit for acting decisively, the troubling reality is that this intervention has come far too late.

Allegations of the unauthorised sale of burial spaces, unlawful exhumation of graves, and the desecration of human remains represent a grave moral and administrative failure. Cemeteries are not merely parcels of public land; they are sacred spaces where society honours its dead and offers closure to the living.

To permit criminal activities of this nature to occur within such a space is an affront to cultural values, social conscience and human dignity.

That these practices reportedly persisted long enough to cause emotional trauma to grieving families and erode public confidence in cemetery management raises serious questions about oversight.

The existence of management structures, environmental health units and regulatory procedures should have prevented such abuses. Their apparent failure underscores a broader institutional problem: weak supervision and complacency until matters become uncontainable.

KoKMA’s two-month suspension of burials, coupled with plans for a comprehensive audit of burial-related payments and strengthened security, is therefore long overdue.

For us on The Ghanaian Times, these are measures that should have been standard practice, not emergency responses.

While the allowance for indigenous burials under strict conditions is a culturally sensitive compromise, it does not diminish the fact that the situation should never have deteriorated to this point.

The Ghanaian Times holds the view that the Osu Cemetery episode is symptomatic of a wider governance culture in Ghana where institutions often wait for public outrage, media exposure or scandal before acting.

Too frequently, duty bearers resort to ad hoc decisions; temporary bans, hurried investigations and reactive press briefings rather than sustained preventive action. This approach undermines public trust and normalises institutional failure as an accepted risk.

Proactive governance must replace reactive fire-fighting. Regular audits, transparent financial systems, clear documentation processes and continuous monitoring should be routine features of public administration, especially in sensitive areas such as cemetery management.

Oversight should not be episodic or symbolic; it must be systematic and uncompromising.

The assurance by the Municipal Chief Executive that investigations are ongoing and that accountability will be enforced is welcome.

However, assurances alone will not restore confidence. The public expects tangible outcomes: the identification and punishment of those responsible, reforms that close existing loopholes and mechanisms that prevent future abuse.

Beyond Korle Klottey, this incident should serve as a cautionary tale for all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

Respect for the dead is a reflection of respect for the living. Ghana cannot continue to govern by crisis, responding only when systems collapse. What is required is foresight, vigilance and a commitment to prevention.

The Osu Cemetery intervention must therefore mark not just a pause in burials, but a turning point in institutional responsibility. Anything less would amount to managing scandal, rather than upholding dignity and good governance.

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