The Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency (MOFFA) plans to deploy personnel to all districts across Ghana to monitor funeral activities and help prevent the mistreatment of corpses.
The personnel will be equipped with mobile phones and motorbikes to enable them to respond quickly to funeral activities, document suspected cases of abuse and monitor how corpses are handled.
MOFFA says the presence of its personnel at funeral grounds is also expected to deter practices that violate the dignity of the deceased.
The planned district-level deployment follows the establishment of regional offices by the agency. MOFFA says its initial focus will be on parts of the middle and southern regions where it believes inappropriate practices involving corpses are more common.
The agency is also preparing proposals to amend existing legislation to introduce punitive measures for people who mishandle corpses. The proposed changes are currently being considered by a committee and will require approval from the MOFFA Board and the Ministry of Health before they can become national policy.