Uphold reverence of Awudome Cemetery!

 The Awudome Cemetery in Accra, like any other cemetery elsewhere, is supposed to be a sacred and serene resting place for the dead, but Awudome is suffering sacri­lege (see our lead story).

The resting place for the dead is gradually being turned into a dumping site of waste and a place of convenience by misfit of society.

Some criminals too are using the place as the den for their ac­tivities such as attacks on inno­cent people to rob them of their money and personal belongings, peddling and use of drugs.

As if that is not enough dis­dain for the dead, areas around the cemetery too have been turned into an economic activity hub, where auto-mechanic and vulcanising workshops are op­erated and all manner of things are sold.

The activities of the social misfits, including the criminals, make the place dirty and the economic activities like those done in the workshops produce unexpected noise.

Leaving the place bushy is another concern as it does not make it come out as a cemetery in a city.

Once you believe in the fact that the dead need rest, then the conclusion is that all the mess at the Awudome Cemetery is a great disturbance to the dead just as it is a concern to the living.

However, the dead cannot protest, so it must take the living to do so, and this is exactly what The Ghanaian Times has chosen to do.

Elsewhere like Europe and the US, public cemeteries are so well planned and kept that they add to the aesthetic beauty of the places where they are located.

They are left always clear and clean and airy such that people can even sit around without har­bouring any fear about ghosts and other spirits connected to the dead hovering around.

But here we are in Ghana desecrating our cemeteries; this must stop and it can stop with the whip being cracked by the relevant authority or authorities.

The mess at the Awudome cemetery involves a whole lot of activities that must be regulat­ed by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), but with the assistance of the other relevant authorities and agencies like the police.

The police are important par­ticularly in the criminal aspect.

The rest, The Ghanaian Times believes, can ably be han­dled by the AMA.

Whatever is happening at the Awudome Cemetery could have been prevented, if the AMA had been proactive enough.

Since when did coconut sellers start throwing away their husks at Awudome?

Even if the coconut sell­ers started their unapproved dumping on the blind side of AMA, can the management of the Assembly look into the eyes of Ghanaians and tell us they still have not had a wind of the refuse mess at the cemetery?

From all indications, the AMA has not reported the criminal activities at the cemetery to the police for their action.

What is more appalling is the unkempt state of the cemetery – bushy environment and broken walls – in spite of the fact that families pay for graves before they bury their loved ones there.

Let AMA uphold the rever­ence of Awudome Cemetery and all other cemeteries under its authority and let all the other district assemblies follow suit in their jurisdictions.