Eric Patrick
In Ghana, death is not just an ending, it is a celebration, a public statement, and often, a final expression of identity and legacy.
Across the country, particularly among the Akan, Ga, and Ewe ethnic groups, funerals are among the most important social events.
Beyond the colorful fabrics and elaborate processions lies a complex, often secretive system of traditions and power plays.
In Ghana you negotiate with the family, the clan elders, sometimes even with spiritual leaders before burying a deceased family member.
According to them, the dead don’t just belong to their immediate relatives—they belong to the community and the ancestors.”
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One of the most distinctive features of Ghanaian funerals is the use of fantasy coffins, custom-made caskets shaped like objects that reflect the deceased’s life.
A fisherman may be buried in a giant wooden fish; a pilot in an airplane-shaped coffin; a wealthy businesswoman in a cocoa pod or a handbag.
These coffins, pioneered by the Ga people of southern Ghana, are internationally recognised art forms and are often seen in museums abroad.
