Rid cemeteries of bushes; Bishop charges Ghanaians

The Presiding Bishop of the Western-West Africa Episcopal District of the A.M.E Zion church, Right Reverend Dr Seth Lartey has called for a campaign to rid cemeteries of bushes.

He said: “I have observed with dismay, while at the cemeteries, we literally fight the bushes and trees to bury loved ones that is not right. How would you like to be buried in a forest that we call a cemetery.”

Speaking at the closing of the 116th Session of the East Ghana Conference of the A.M.E Zion church in Accra, Rt Rev Lartey said described as an eye-saw that after expensive funerals cemeteries where the deceased are finally laid to rest have been turned into forest over-grown with bushes and trees.

He said Ghanaians must reconsider the extravagant spending on funerals like expensive clothing, food, and elaborate programmes which live families with huge debts.

The Presiding Bishop charged pastors of the A.M.E. Zion church to organise campaigns to keep the cemeteries clean at all times.

According to him: “It makes no sense for us to spend all the kind of money we spend on funerals and go to a cemetery that is all covered with bushes. Then we come back to church and say how great our God is.

“Do you not know the person who was buried is the image of God,” he asked.

“We have the responsibility to care for the environment where we live and the place we bury our loved ones,” he said.

The Rt Rev Lartey also charged his ministers and officers of the church to organise campaigns in churches and communities about unsafe driving which has claimed many lives in recent times.

“I am encouraging AME Zion pastors to gather drivers especially commercial ones and pray for them and motivate them to drive safely to save lives” he said.

The conference saw newly ordained ministers inducted into the fold of the East Ghana Conference the A.M.E. Zion church.

Two Ghanaians, Rev Dr Hilliard Dela Dogbe and Rev Dr Richard Gadzekpo, vying for the position of the an indigenous Presiding Bishop for the A.M.E. Zion church in Western-West Africa Episcopal District which comprises Ghana, Togo, Cote D’Ívoire and Liberia, were introduced at the conference.