What A Shock!!- The Sudden ‘Death’ Of ‘Obituaries’ In Ghana.

Like all cultures across the world, the Ghanaian culture has its unique attributes. One very distinguishing feature of the Ghanaian culture is how Ghanaians organize their funerals. Funerals in some parts of the world are deemed to be very private occasions, but in Ghana funerals are observed as landmark festivities. Events preceding a funeral are expertly planned and delicately delivered by a team of well ‘experienced’ members of the extended family- ebusua, ably led by the all-knowing and in some cases bellicose family head- ebusuapanyin. One of such major events is the announcement of the deceased and the subsequent burial plans.
Growing up as a kid in the 80’s, I was privileged to experience the very early forms of funeral announcement. Back then the major medium by which you could announce the death of a cherished relative or a friend was through the highly sought after services of a ‘Gong-Gong’ beater or the ‘town Cryer’-as our brothers from Nigeria prefer to call him. It was common at the break of dawn to hear the loud irritating voice emanating from the alcohol drenched throats of the man you loved to hate-the ‘gong-gong’ beater. My grandmother used to joke that the ‘gong-gong’ beater’s heart is powered by ‘Akpeteshie’-a locally brewed gin, and so the more ‘Akpeteshie’ you bought for him, the louder and further your announcement travelled. Those were the good old days.
The introduction of the computer from the early 90’s had a significant impact on how funeral announcements are made in Ghana. It was now becoming the norm to see posters with the word ‘OBITUARY’ boldly captioned on them, these posters could be found on any available space- from the walls of the church, the police station and even in some cases on the walls of the chief’s palace. Although early on most of these posters were in black and white, it was not long that fully colored editions were introduced. These posters came complete with the deceased’s picture, his or her age, his or her date of death, place of death, place of wake-keeping, funeral and church service. Also the name of spouse (if married), name of children (if any), name of parents, and then a long list of members of the extended family. And before I forget, to avoid the occurrence of a major family upheaval, the name of the ‘Ebusuapanyin’, must be mentioned before any other family member could be acknowledged. This arrangement is non-negotiable because in Ghana, the body of a dead relative belongs to the extended family and as the head of the family the ‘Ebusuapanyin’ can not be ignored in any way.
At a casual glance, a dead man’s poster could just be a piece of paper with a picture and a lot of inscriptions on it, however a more careful look will expose all the interesting stories that maybe hiding behind that piece of paper on the wall. If you saw a poster of a dead man, that acknowledged the names of his kids but not that of his wife, then there is a possibility that the deceased’s extended family may have accused the widow of witchcraft and consequently found the woman responsible for the death of their beloved relative, hence her neglect. Again if you saw a poster with a tall list of family members in the Diaspora, notably from Germany or Italy, then there is an 80% chance that the deceased is either from the Ashanti region or eastern region of Ghana. The quality of paper and printing could also go a long way to portray the social standing of the deceased or his family- if you found a high quality water-proof poster then the deceased is most likely from the upper or middle class of the society. These days some families even chose to advertise their dead in a way that will be the envy of most event organizers in Ghana. The fashion now is to advertise the funerals of dead relatives on huge billboards across the country, with very detailed directions to the funeral grounds or church service. On the other hand, if you found a few A4 sheets with some moderate to poor quality design and printing dotted around town, then your guess is as good as mine. Like the elders say- ‘the bird considers it size before it builds its nest’
At some point in our history, some people haven perhaps gotten bored with the caption ‘OBITUARY’ decided to experiment with other words and phrases. From no where phrases like ‘AT REST’, ‘CELEBRATION OF LIFE’, CALL TO GLORY’, ‘HOME CALL’ etc had become prominent. Depending on the circumstances of death or the age of the deceased, either of the above captions was considered. For example if the deceased was an old man or woman, you are most likely to encounter a ‘CALL TO GLORY’ or ‘HOME CALL’ caption. If the deceased lived a very ‘successful’ life- for example a Politician, the caption is most likely to be-‘CELEBRATION OF LIFE’. If the deceased had surrendered his/her life to some terminal disease the preferred caption will be ‘AT REST’.
I am sure in recent times, as in the past four years or so; most people in Ghana have noticed the sudden emergence of posters bearing the phrase ‘WHAT A SHOCK’. Well, through my own curious research, I have been able to unearth the history behind the emergence of this rather intriguing episode. It all started at the peak of ‘sakawaism’ in Ghana around 2006. In their quest to get rich over night, some over zealous young men opted to trade their lives for ritual money, what we call in Ghana ‘sika-aduro’. In no time the devil extracted his pound of flesh with vengeance and no one was spared. So sudden and rampant was their death that the whole country was gripped with fear and pain. Towns like Swedru in the central region were the most affected, and it is not surprising that the phrase ‘WHAT A SHOCK’ is believed to have originated from Swedru. For those who never saw any of the original ‘WHAT A SHOCK’ posters, I will give you a few lines from a classic ‘WHAT A SHOCK’ poster…. ‘The sudden death is announced of Fiifi Dadzie (aka, Dollaz), 1990-2006, chief mourners; Ras Killer, Prikus and Don Flexi, funeral and burial will be held at the M-plaza hotel, there will be no wake, after party is at the Aphrodisiac night club’. Yes and these posters also came complete with the deceased’s picture, however unlike the previous ones- where your most formal picture is used, in a ‘what a shock’ poster, you are most likely to see a young man in a 50 cent or should I say prez Kuffour like ‘bling-bling’, spotting the most extreme form of ‘Mohawk’ or ‘California’ haircut in town.
So popular has the ‘WHAT A SHOCK’ caption become that at present, it is normal to find them on the posters of even a 50 year old deceased. So one will wonder what qualifies a 50 year old to use this caption. According to my research these are some of the possible scenarios; If your father after 20 years of doing politics loses his life just a month after his party comes into power, you are free to use the caption ‘WHAT A SHOCK’. If your auntie, after years of sleeping in prayer camps, finally gets pregnant but dies during delivery from complications of her old age, you have my permission to use the caption. If your uncle on his way to retrieve a ‘gargantuan’ judgment debt dies from an accident, you have the permission of prez Mills to use the caption.
From all indications, the phrase ‘ WHAT A SHOCK’ has come to stay, I am yet to see any such word or phrase that captures the emotions of losing a loved one, especially when they die young. Death awaits everyone, and like the English novelist- J.B. Priestly said, “The people who pretend that death is rather like strolling into the next room always leave me unconvinced. Death, like Birth must be a tremendous event”. So whether you die young or old, as far as you are a Ghanaian, you can be assured of a well packaged funeral.
By: Kwame Yeboah
pinsonchapta@yahoo.com