By Dennis Peprah, GNA
Yamfo, (A/R), March 25, GNA – The ‘Yamfo Royal Cemetery’ in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region is undergoing a face-lift to serve as a tourist attraction site and boost eco-tourism in the mining town.
It will also provide a more suitable resting place for the spirits of the departed royals, thereby preserving the tradition and norms of the people of Yamfo.
As a mining town in the Newmont Ahafo North project catchment area, the chiefs and people of the area said they believed that putting the royal cemetery into a modern standard would serve as a tourist destination site for expatriate workers of the mine.
During a visit as part in commemoration of the Heritage Month, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) noticed that architectural designers had begun the lay out of the cemetery and were redesigning some tombs of the ancestral spirits.
The 40-metre-square cemetery, situated at the heart of the town, was also being fenced not only to secure the place, but to also ward off stray animals.
Tombs accommodating the mortal remains of the royals of the Yamfo Traditional Stool had also been re-painted and decorated with flowers.
The facility also contained different intriguing tomb styles built for and in honour of the departed spirits of the royals.
Though there were some weeds around the enclave, the GNA leant that the cemetery was being gardened and re-decorated with ornamental plants too, as architects were noticed designing its entry fence.
Nana Peprah Afreen, a member of the Royal Family, and the Saamanhene (chief in-charge of Palace Properties), who conducted the GNA round the cemetery, said the garden would be small taking tourists only about 20 minutes to explore its history.
“We are also preserving the cemetery for the unborn generation so they will also come and see and learn and understand our history and culture when we are gone,” he stated.
Nana Afrane explained that although the graveyard was reserved years ago, due to rapid population growth and emerging human settlements, it was now in the heart of the town, with many houses around it.
Nana Peprah expressed gratitude to the Newmont Ahafo Development (NADeF), a fund set up by the Newmont Ahafo mine to execute the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility for supporting the chiefs and people of the area to face-lift the cemetery.
GNA