Authorities have exhumed about 200 bodies from the Gurugu cemetery, a suburb of Tamale, to make way for the construction of the Tamale Third Ring Road under the government’s Big Push programme.
Community members and gravediggers supported the relocation of the bodies to another site.
The Assemblyman for the Gurugu Electoral Area, Alhassan Illiasu, confirmed that the community’s chiefs and leaders, in consultation with residents, had agreed to exhume the bodies to make way for the project.
“We were privileged to secure a place in the Big Push road project. However, the proposed road had to pass through the cemetery. After consulting the community’s leaders and residents, we agreed to exhume some of the bodies to make way for the project,” he said.
He said residents had readily accepted the decision because they supported development in the area.
“We did not want people to say one day that the Gurugu road project could not be completed because of the cemetery. We believe this is development, so we had to find an alternative to ensure the road is constructed,” he said.
According to him, community members had turned out in large numbers to help relocate the bodies as their contribution to the project.
“Our contribution to the construction of the road is to help relocate the bodies. If anyone in the community is unhappy with the decision, we apologise and want them to know that we did this for the sake of development,” he said.
The leader of the gravediggers said it was the first time they had encountered such a situation.
“This is the first time we have experienced a situation like this. We performed the traditional rites before the bodies were exhumed, and we will continue to do so until the construction is completed,” he said.
He said the contractors had provided money and animals for the traditional rites.
“We asked the contractors to provide money, and we used it to buy various animals and other items needed to perform the traditional rites before construction began,” he said.
