Mortuaries and Funeral Agency to monitor funerals nationwide to prevent mistreatment of corpses

Josephine Amuzu 17:26 - 18 August 2026

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Ghana's Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency (MOFFA) will deploy district personnel to monitor funerals and prevent the mistreatment of corpses.

MOFFA plans to deploy personnel across all districts to monitor funeral activities.
Personnel will use mobile phones and motorbikes to respond to and document suspected mistreatment of corpses.
MOFFA is working on proposed legislative changes to introduce punitive measures for offenders.

Ghana’s Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency (MOFFA) plans to deploy personnel to districts across the country to monitor funeral activities and help prevent the improper handling of corpses.

The agency says the move forms part of efforts to strengthen oversight of the funeral industry and ensure that deceased persons are treated with dignity.

Speaking to JoyNews’ Stephen Mensah, MOFFA Executive Director Francis Ennin said personnel deployed to the districts would be equipped with mobile phones and motorbikes to enable them to respond quickly to funeral activities and document suspected cases of abuse.

We’ll be giving them mobile phones and motorbikes so that wherever there is a funeral activity, they may be going there. They may be taking pictures and videos so that whoever misbehaves, the person may not know the presence of MOFFA personnel there, he said.

Pallbearers

According to Mr Ennin, the personnel will eventually be deployed across all districts, following the establishment of the agency’s regional offices.

Mr Ennin said the agency’s immediate attention would be on parts of southern and middle Ghana, where it believes inappropriate practices involving corpses are more common.

He noted that funeral practices differ across parts of the country and said the agency wants to focus its monitoring efforts on areas where concerns have been identified.

He added that the presence of MOFFA personnel at funeral grounds could also serve as a deterrent to people who may engage in practices that compromise the dignity of corpses.

Beyond monitoring, MOFFA is also working on proposals to strengthen the legislation governing the handling of corpses.

Mr Ennin said the agency is considering the introduction of punitive measures against people who violate regulations relating to the treatment of corpses.

The agency is currently preparing a draft document outlining the proposed changes.

He explained that some provisions of the existing legislation need to be amended to allow for appropriate sanctions against offenders.

The legislation, we need to amend some portions of it so that we can fix in some punitive measures on people who handle corpses and do all sorts of things, he said.

The draft is currently being considered by a committee and will require approval from the MOFFA Board and the Ministry of Health before it can become a national working document.

The planned district-level deployment is part of broader efforts by MOFFA to improve monitoring of funeral activities and ensure compliance with regulations governing mortuaries and funeral facilities.

The agency says the measures are intended to help prevent the mistreatment of corpses, strengthen accountability within the funeral industry and promote the dignified treatment of the deceased.