Togbe Nakakpo Dugbaza VIII, Paramount Chief of the Tefle Traditional Area of the Volta Region is asking for the mortal remains of the late Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings to be buried at his residence in Tefle.
This, the Chief explained, was the desire of the former President when he was alive.
According to him, the late President Rawlings once expressed the desire that if he dies, he should be buried at his property in Tefle.
Togbe Nakakpo Dugbaza’s appeal was contained in a statement signed and issued to the members of the Rawlings funeral committee, family members including Rawlings’s wife and children.
“The man loved water and rivers. One time, he told me he [did] not care if he could be interred on the Island at Tefle but I dissuaded him saying that, because if the spillway of the dam is opened, the water table might change thus affecting his remains,” Togbe Dugbaza said.
Togbe added, “He [Rawlings] said he was not strict about it. In this vein, why don’t you consider laying him to rest on his property at Tefle which lies at the Volta River Bank.”
Meanwhile, the funeral rites of the late former president, Jerry John Rawlings, which was scheduled for Wednesday, December 23, has been postponed indefinitely.
A statement from the office of the former president indicated that “a new date will be communicated to the public in due course”.
“The inconvenience to all who had made prior arrangements for the funeral ceremony is deeply regretted,” it added.
This comes weeks after the Anlo Traditional Council was outraged because they were not involved in the funeral arrangements of the former President.
The council argued that the arrangements were not in accordance with the customs and traditions of the Anlo people.
The Council, therefore, called on President Akufo-Addo to “ensure that the right procedures are adhered to”.
“The Anlo Traditional Council reserves the right to take steps to ensure that this error is remedied appropriately,” the statement read.
