Anambra Assembly Moves To Stop Expensive Funerals

The Anambra State House of Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill to  stop  expensive funerals in the state.

The bill, which was  sponsored  by the representative   of  Anaocha II Constituency, Charles Ezeani, now makes it an offence to hold funerals for more than one day in the state.

Before the bill was passed, communities  held funerals  for at least three days.

Ezeani  said, “The Burial/Funeral Control Bill is aimed at cutting down the cost of burials in the state.”

The  bill   says   in the event of death “no person shall deposit any corpse in the mortuary or any place beyond two months from the date of the death, while burial ceremonies in the state shall be for one day”.

The  bill   makes it an offence to   destroy  property,  fire gunshots,  block roads  during  funerals  in the state.

The  bill  also   says  “no person shall subject any relation of a deceased person to a mourning period of more than one week from the date of the burial”.

It added that during  funerals the family of the deceased “shall provide food for their kindred, relatives and other sympathisers at their own discretion.”

Ezeani  told reporters that    a monitoring and implementation committee would be set up by the Assembly to  enforce the law after Governor Willie Obiano had signed it.