The Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a bill tagged The Burial/Funeral Control Bill, to stop expensive burial ceremonies in the state.
Before the passage of the bill, communities used to hold funerals for at about three days, however, with the new bill, it is now an offence to hold funerals for more than one day in the state.
The bill, which was passed on Wednesday, was sponsored by the representative of Anaocha II Constituency, Charles Ezeani who said the bill was aimed at cutting down the cost of burials in the state.
The bill provides that 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”.
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It also makes it an offence to destroy property, fire gunshots, or block roads during funerals in the state.
Furthermore, the bill 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.”
Speaking to journalists, Ezeani disclosed that a monitoring and implementation committee would be set up by the Assembly to enforce the law after Governor Willie Obiano had signed it.
