Funerals go hi tech

Saturday, April 4, 2009 (The Mirror)

By Rebecca Kwei
There is a perception that Ghanaians love the dead. This is because of the expensive funerals that are organised for departed relations.
The mode of announcing deaths has mainly been through the electronic or print media. However, this has gone hi tech and the latest innovation is to post such announcements on a website: www.funeralsinghana.com.
The website provides information on funeral planning and products, as well as services associated with funerals.
In an interview, the CEO of CNJ Consult, Mr Charles Nii Ayiku, said he came up with the idea because he realised that there was no particular source of information when it came to funeral issues.
He said the website was thus to serve as a resource centre to provide information and education on funeral issues.
Mr Ayiku said, for instance, that when one was bereaved, it was important that one got access to information on funeral planning, caskets, storage of the body, embalming, burial, developing obituaries or tributes, among others.
He noted that people were usually confused when a loved one died and they were sometimes ripped off and so the website and the services it offered would help in that regard.
“In fact, the website is a one-stop shop that provides information on everything funeral in Ghana,” he emphasised.
Mr Ayiku said the content of the website included funeral announcements, page for memorials and tributes, funeral products and services, videos and photographs of funeral ceremonies.
He said his organisation also provided other services such as video coverage and consultancy on planning funerals.
On how one could have his or her announcement posted on the website, he said all one needed to do was send the obituary to its offices or e-mail it to info@funeralsinghana.com and after conducting background checks on the authenticity of the announcement, it was then posted on the website.
According to Mr Ayiku, as of now the services were free and the response from the public had been excellent, both in Ghana and abroad.
“We have also received a lot of positive remarks from users of the website and some insurance companies have also expressed interest in advertising on the website,” he said.
He encouraged Ghanaians to support the innovation.