Gethsemane Garden: Inside the most expensive cemetery in Ghana where the rich and powerful are laid to rest

Try not to die if you live in Accra – the authorities do not have anywhere to put you. Apparently, the capital is running out of burial space or is close to it.

Some estimates suggest that by 2017 all the three major cemeteries in Accra – Awudome, Osu, and La as well as its outer areas will have run out of capacity.

With a shortage of space in cemeteries, private operators have seen the healthy returns to be had by investing in graveyards.

Gethsemane Memorial garden is one of such investors.

The memorial garden has moved in to fill the gap offering a single plot for 28,200 cedis (twenty years lease)  and double occupancy for 39,200 cedis(twenty years lease) at its cemetery on the edge of East Legon in Accra.

 

It's a business that thrives on death and the memorial garden has made something quite remarkable out of it.

The 5-acre grounds, built in 2012, is a stunning example of the urban cemetery, with a great view, beautifully manicured grounds looking more like a beautiful city park than a graveyard.

 

Gethsemane Memorial garden calls itself the premier garden cemetery in Ghana and their burial packages are anything but spectacular, from single burials, estate and much more.

It is a non-denominational cemetery with beautiful landscaping which has become the resting hub for the mortal remains of well-to-do and famous people in Ghanaian society.

 

Investing in cemeteries is a serious business in Ghana, says Albert Eyeson, assistant manager at Gethsemane Memorial Garden.

He has been in the trade for quite a long time and he tells Business Insider Sub Saharan Africa(BISSA) how the premier private cemetery started.

 

"Since 2012, Gethsemane Memorial Garden has provided a solemn sanctuary of peace in a classic formal garden where life can be remembered, families are reunited and memories are made palpable. Apparently, the garden was re-modified from an already existing graveyard", he tells BISSA.

 

Ghana's mortality rate has fallen from around 9 deaths per 1,000 people in 2015 to 7 deaths per 1,000 in 2017.Still,  Emmanuel says, the garden averagely buries five bodies every month. "It's a very profitable business and sometimes unstable, you can force people to die," he says.

But he is aware of the sensitivity around having a successful business that relies on death."We are not happy when people die," he explains. "We feel pity. We feel like giving them a befitting farewell after life her."

What makes the cemetery very pricey?

It is expensive because it is situated on a prime real estate. Also, maintenance costs are high. For example; six thousand gallons of water are drawn daily to keep the lawns green, says the gardens.

 

It was super revealing and quite surprising when Emmanuel told BISSA that people actually make arrangements to reserve spaces for people who are yet to die.

" We get people coming around to reserve burial spaces for their families, so that when they die their bodies will be buried here"

Beyond  the regular leasing of burial plot

Apart from the basic services of leasing a burial plot, the garden does re-interment and also hold church services for a decease.

We offer services to even cremated bodies. the garden has a space called the columbarium where the ashes from a cremated body are kept, he tells BISSA.

That service goes for 15,000 cedis for 30 years.

 

Are there any yearly charges or fees for burial?

After payment of the burial plot, the only expense made by the customer is the memorial headstone.

But what happens if a family fails to renew their lease agreement? This is what he tells BISSA

 

Management would consider it as a loss of interest and decision will be taken depending on the circumstances at that time. Per the garden's terms and conditions management can exhume bodies if family fails to play by the contract after the 20 years lease period.

 

"We dig up graves when families fail to renew the contract. The bones are collected from the grave, gathered into a smaller wooding box and reburied at a place called an estuary. Then the  plot is sold to another family", he added.

You may not be able to live among the rich and famous, but you can afford to be dead among them.

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