On Wednesday, May 4, 2023, Dr Yaw Twerefour was appointed as Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency by President Akufo-Addo.
Despite the agency being in existence for over a decade, the appointment of Dr Twerefuor brought into discussion especially on social media the role and relevance of the state-owned institution.
Mandate and service
MoFFA was established on December 31, 2011 through an Act of Parliament, the Health Institutions and Facilities Act 2011 (Act 829), to license, regulate and monitor facilities related to the storage, transportation and disposal of human remains.
The Act further specifies the mandate of the institution to include the oversight responsibility on facilities into the storage, transportation and disposal of the body of a still born child and any part of the body removed in the course of surgical operation
Vision and Mission
Being a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health, MoFFA by its mission seeks to “protect public health incidences in the funeral and death care industry through a process of impartial enforcement, inspection, licensing and education in order to guarantee that services provided by all agents in the sector are conducted professionally and ethically.”
The vision of the agency is to become the “best one stop agency for the regulation of funeral facilities in the interest of public health in Ghana.”
Scope of regulatory mandate
MoFFA declares as offence contrary to its mandate the: Practice of operating a transportation, storage or disposal of human remains facility without registration as a practitioner except a licenced pathologist; Usage of a facility for services other than what is licensed for; failure to license a facility and making a false declaration in an application for registration or for a licence; failure to renew the registration or licence to operate a facility.
Others include: the obstruction of an inspector; pollution of the environment in the course of operations under Act 829; acceptance, release or disposal of human remains in contravention of the provision of the Regulations; burial of human remains in a place other than an authorized burial ground; as well as the exhumation or after burial, removal of any human remains without authority.