Residents of the Emena Constituency in the Ashanti Region are threatening turmoil if the police do not free three people who were detained for allegedly trying to stop a private developer from building a road through a cemetery. Tensions are rising in the area.
The young man said that the aforementioned construction had led to the exhumation of ancestors’ remains and the destruction of several cemeteries.
The residents of the town protested the road project’s damage to the cemetery in an effort to protect the burial grounds, which led to their arrest, according to a report filed by UTV. As a result, the private developer began building a road leading to his residence, directing it through the town cemetery.
In an interview with UTV, an assemblyman from the Emena Boadi Appiahdu Kokoben electoral district, Kenneth Owusu Bediako, offered his support for the young people, noting his own observation of three tombs that had been destroyed. He highlighted that it is forbidden to exhume grave remains.
“For me, I heard on Friday that they have brought grader to demolish our graves which has resulted in some graves of our fathers being exposed, so, I went to the police station to discuss with them, for myself I have witnessed about three graves that have been demolished…so, I support the steps that the youths have taken because it is a great taboo to exhume our grandfathers’ grave with a grader.”
Several residents voiced their concerns over the issue. One resident lamented, “What is painful is that someone has taken the law into his hands to exhume our graves, believing that his son, a Circuit Court Judge, will deliver justice on his behalf, disregarding the feelings of the community.”
Several residents voiced their concerns over the issue. One resident lamented, “What is painful is that someone has taken the law into his hands to exhume our graves, believing that his son, a Circuit Court Judge, will deliver justice on his behalf, disregarding the feelings of the community.”
Additionally, from another resident, “My father Kwaku Mensah’s grave is now exposed. We implore our leaders to intervene and protect our cemetery.”