[ 2012-08-05 ]

FREEBIES for Mills funeral
The Funeral Planning Committee (FPC) for late
President John Evans Atta Mills is virtually
operating a blank cheque on all the expenditures
for the programmes and activities that will
culminate in the late president’s funeral.

The committee, headed by Kofi Totobi-Quarkyi, has
so far conducted several massive activities across
the country in all regional and district capitals
to mark the one week memorial of the late
president, without a designated budget estimate
which may be drawn from the discretionary accounts
of government.

Activities for the late president’s funeral peaked
on Tuesday, July 31, 2012, when the one-week
mourning period was capped with an elaborate
service at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park and
other parts of the country including regional and
district capitals.

In spite of the flurry of activities, a working
budget is not readily available to ascertain the
quantum of financial resources that have already
been sunk.

When asked by DAILY GUIDE, yesterday, about the
budget and its monitoring mechanisms, the
committee chairman responded: “We are dealing with
a crisis, and we have not been able… (pause) we
have an idea of the cost, the various sub-groups
are developing the budget lines.”

Critics, especially from the opposition New
Patriotic Party (NPP), have called for a strict
monitoring system to ensure transparency in
spending for the two-week long national chain of
activities. The NPP contended that the late
president’s funeral could be used as a fertile
ground by unscrupulous officials to pocket state
funds.

The deputy communications director of the NPP,
John Boadu, cautioned the committee to be mindful
of the expenditure for the funeral.

Speaking on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ yesterday, Mr
Boadu alluded to a similar committee tasked to
organise a burial service for eight out of the
alleged 44 Ghanaians murdered in The Gambia in
2005 which he said engaged in profligate
spending.

According to the committee, which was tasked for
the funeral rites of the eight Ghanaians whose
bodies were exhumed in The Gambia, it used part of
the $500, 000 compensation money the Gambian
authorities had remitted to the families of the
deceased for expenses including GH¢ 25,000, for
reception and payment of GH¢5,000 to the media as
‘soli’, even though journalists said no money was
given to them.

Mr Boadu stated that per the accounts of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs rendered to parliament
on the funeral, some expenditure the government
made were not prudent and were totally outrageous
such as the GH¢25,000 used for funeral reception
for over 600 persons; GH¢11,200 for construction
of tombs and other related expenses; GH¢12,200 for
transportation of bereaved families who attended
the funeral among others.

The NPP man said that in as much as the late
president deserved a befitting funeral, the
committee should also bear in mind that Ghana was
a country with scarce resources and as such could
not be involved in such outrageous spending as
witnessed by funeral rites for the Ghanaians
murdered in The Gambia.

The only assurance that the chairman of the FPC,
Mr Totobi- Quarkyi, gave when he met the press
yesterday to outline the various activities
earmarked for the final funeral rites for
President Mills, was the fact that the late
president was a prudent person and would not allow
his funeral to become a financial burden on the
country.

“We want to assure you that knowing the late
president, he would not want this committee to
expend any undue amount of money on his funeral.”

Mr. Totobi-Quarkyi explained that even the members
of the committee were carrying out their tasks
without remuneration or allowance. “Everything we
are doing is gratis,” he said.

The committee outlined an extensive list of
programmes and activities for the final funeral
rites.

The activities will commence from Wednesday,
August 8, 2012 to Friday, August 10.

On Wednesday, August 8, the casket containing the
mortal remains of President Mills would be
conveyed to the State Banquet Hall where it would
be laid in state.

The general public including members of the
Diplomatic Corps would be allowed to view the body
and pay their last respect to the departed soul.

President John Mahama would be the first to pay
his last respect and would be subsequently
followed by members of the Diplomatic Corps.

This would be crowned by an all-night musical
performance by members of the Musicians Union of
Ghana (MUSIGA).

The following day, a tall list of civil society
groups and the general public would be allowed to
conduct a procession around the body lying in
state for their last respect.

Friday, August 10 would mark the climax of
activities of ex-President Mills’s final funeral
rites.

His corpse would be conveyed from the State House
to the Black Star Square where the final funeral
would be held. The whole programme is expected to
last within two hours.

The corpse would then be conveyed through selected
principal streets to the Castle driveway, where
ex-President Mills would be buried in the
specially designated presidential cemetery.

Source - Daily Guide

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