I know many have waited on me to make known what happened at the burial and funeral of a dearly departed brother and colleague in the showbiz industry Eric Asante, whose death took the country Ghana by shock on December 5 2013. It was perhaps the first of the series of “cardiac arrests” that hit the Ghanaian media industry.
In the early hours of Saturday January 19, 2014, the body of the late brother was laid in state for public viewing and paying of last respect at the Kumasi Cultural till around 10 am when the body was lifted for internment at the Ayigya cemetery.
Unlike many, the corpse was seated in a chair in an upright position with his hands on his laps. (I would have loved to share a photograph with you but I hold a different view now of sharing such images as I take a cue from sharing late musician Nana Wusu’s own).
The funeral was well attended by industry personalities, the general public, members of the media and family. The event looked orderly until a torrential downpour after the burial got everybody dispersed at the funeral grounds and just like they do in their movies, there was a part two of the family sitting at the same venue on Sunday. Call it “Eric Asante’s funeral Reloaded.”
Fast forward to the burial grounds where a very despicable act of ignorance or perhaps superstition transpired.
Amidst wailing and crying by loved ones, Ghanaian actress Vivian Jill Lawrence dropped her head gear and spectacles unto the coffin and asked it to be buried with the deceased; an act that got many heckle and attempt to remove the said materials as it had a spiritual significance in the local Akan setting.
She however managed to achieve her purpose as the materials were buried with the corpse.
Significance: If my little knowledge of the Akan tradition is anything to go by, then until you are closely related or have a blood bond with a deceased, you have no right to let a possession of yours be buried along a dead person but that was not the case with Vivian Jill Lawrence.
From my observation of events at the filing past the body prior to the internment, wife of the deceased had his wedding ring until the body was covered when she disposed off the ring. (I don’t know where she kept it though). This act signified the break of any bond that existed between the two when he was alive so why a mere colleague?
It therefore comes as shocking when Vivian Jill defied all attempts and deposited her head gear and spectacles to be buried along the dead. Was it sheer ignorance or superstition as I heard others murmur?
It is believed the dead has a way of communicating with the living and therefore any link established becomes the means through which such communication is made.
