Gbese Mantse burial ban 'slip of tongue' – Ga Traditional Council

The acting president of the Ga Traditional Council Nii Dodoo Nsaki has said there will be no ban on burials during the annual ban on noise making observation, adding that assertion by the Gbese Mantse was a slip of tongue.

According to him, all religious groupings including Muslims are at liberty to bury their members as far as it does not flout the ban on noise making.

Prior to clearing the air, the Office of the Chief Imam fumed over the directive, arguing it could breed frosty relationship between Muslims and the Ga Traditional Council.

“If that was said during my press conference then it was just a slip of tongue. We didn’t refer to any particular religious group. We said there shouldn’t be funeral ceremony which will lead to noise making, if people can bury their dead quietly, why should we have problems with that if we didn’t want any burial we would have gone to block the entrance of the ceremony to prevent people from bringing in their dead bodies. What will spark noise making is what we are against. We didn’t say that, please take it from me, I’m telling you on authority,” Nii Nsaki clarified.

The Office of the National Chief Imam has welcomed the development. “This is quite assuring… Mutual respect is what can promote tolerance for us. We must commend the spokesperson for coming out to clarify the issue.

We want to show our gratitude to the Ga Traditional Council for correcting this issue,” the Chief Imam’s spokesperson told host of Starr Today Bernard Nasara Saibu on Thursday.

The ban on noise making comes into force from May 8.