I arrived in my law offices at Asylum Down behind the NPP office to see a uniformed soldier standing there. He saluted me and gave me his mobile phone.
At the other end of the phone was a colleague lawyer, “Captain, the solider standing in front of you is my client. I have recommended you to him as the best lawyer to help him.”
Okay, soldier, follow me to my office.
His story was simple. His father’s brother, Colonel (rtd) Justice Doegah was dead and the children wanted to hijack the funeral from the family.
You know, reader, tradition in Ghana is very interesting. I learnt the theory at law school, but since becoming head of family in Berekum, I see it in practice every blessed day.
Almost throughout Ghana, when a person dies, the dead body belongs to the family. It is the family who call the shots. They decide when how and where to bury the corpse.
Interesting enough it is the basic responsibility of the children to bear literally all the costs i.e. the casket, the grave, the hearse, the advertisement, refreshments – reader, everything.
The law in Ghana, not negotiable, is that the dead body belongs to the family, but the children bear the cost of the funeral.
In 1999, I was busily campaigning as NPP Parliamentary candidate for Berekum when I got home one evening, Gloria, my father in law’s daughter, told me my mother in law has kicked the bucket at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. I told her not to worry – I will pay for the casket, the grave space, funeral announcements and the mortuary bills. I went to the wake keeping and the funeral at La Presby and over to the cemetery.
In the evening, Gloria came home with a polythene bag containing money – what is this?
“The family says you paid for everything so I should bring all the donations to you – they did not even count the money.”
“Oh Gloria, I don’t need it take it.”
Reader, any big funeral you will see – either it is the state paying the cost or the children, but the glory goes to the family.
I told the soldier that according to standard practice, I will write a letter to the children and if they don’t play ball, then I will issue a writ and put an injunction on the funeral slated for 11th March, 2022.
I know Colonel Justice Doegah very well, having appeared several times before him as a Circuit Court Judge. I wrote the letter for free, but warned that if I have to go to court I will charge legal fees.
Next day, I had a call from a very respectable senior lawyer: “Effah, why did you write an insulting letter to my client, Colonel Doegah’s daughter?
“Me, Captain, write insulting letter? Have you read the letter yourself?
“No, Captain” Angrily I cut the line.
Next morning, the senior lawyer called, apologised and said he has read the letter, it was fine and he will see what he can do.
On the morning of Friday, 25th February, the colonel’s daughter, a lawyer, walked into my office tearfully telling me her last days with her father.
I told her to see the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to use his position to call my client the soldier, to talk to the family for the two sides to cooperate.
In her presence, I called a chief who knows the CDS very well and he told me he was even with him at that very moment with the President at Takoradi Naval Base.
To my complete shock late in the afternoon of that Friday, the solider came to my office holding an order of interim injunction obtained ex parte by the children against the family!
Fortunately, it was ex parte (without notice) so the law is that, it is for no more than 7 days expiring 28th February, 2022. Very well.
The children did nothing about my letter and their ex parte injunction expired. The family did not bring me any money so I relaxed and forgot about the case.
Friday, 4th March, late in the afternoon, the family brought part payment of my legal fees. By the time I finished preparing all the papers, it was past 7pm and Monday was a public holiday.
Tuesday, 8th March, very early in the morning, my secretary went to file an injunction on the corpse at the High Court and we sent a copy to the 37 Mortuary.
Reader, you will not believe it – at exactly 12noon on Thursday, 10th March, a deep throat called me on phone saying: “Captain, the children have this morning gone for an ex parte order that the corpse should be released to the children for burial tomorrow even though they are aware of the motion for injunction filed on 8th March, coming up on 25th March.”
How possible? Which High Court Judge gave that irregular order?
I called my client, he came, and after a little conference of several legal brains, we agreed that the best course of action was to prepare a motion for certiorari at the Supreme Court to quash the order and serve same on the mortuary at 37 Hospital.
We finished everything at 2:30pm. My secretary, Mimi, took a motor bicycle straight to the Supreme Court getting there at 2:45pm. Then she called – “Captain, the filing clerk at the Supreme Court says we are late, nothing can be done.”
I dialed the number of the Supreme Court Registrar – apparently he knows me very well. When I explained my problem to him, he said I should give him five minutes.
He called back and said I should ask my secretary to go back and see a specific person at the Registry. I called my secretary.
“Mimi, where are you?
“Captain I am on my way back to the office.”
“Where specifically are you?”
“I am in a taxi, just passing in front of Holy Spirit Cathedral”.
“Okay. Get down, take motor and go back to the Supreme Court. I have spoken to the Registrar…….”
Eventually the papers were filed and 37 mortuary was served accordingly.
In spite of all these, the corpse was released at 10pm on Thursday, 10th March, to the children, and early in the morning of 11th March, 2022, an extremely very short burial service was held at the Catholic Church, Burma Camp that lasted not more than 20 minutes. Only a handful of people were there.
They rushed to the new military cemetery and by 9am Colonel (retired) Justice Doegah had been buried.
The family rang me: “Captain, what do we do?”
“Two options – either forget about everything or let us bring an application to exhume the corpse for reburial according to the wishes of the family.”
(To be continued)
BY Nkrabeah Effah Dartey