The family of the late Member of Parliament for the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Constituency in the Savannah Region, Joseph Trumah Bayel, has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to urgently intervene in a dispute they say is delaying his burial.
According to the family, the Chief of Tuna, Tunawura Daniel Mahama Amantana, is demanding a payment of GH¢944,955—said to represent costs incurred in a protracted court case involving the late MP—before allowing his burial in the Tuna enclave.
The appeal was made at a press conference held at Dakompilayir, the late MP’s hometown and a suburb of Tuna in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Atluor Issahaku, family spokesperson and Dakompilayir branch chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), said the family was relying on the longstanding personal relationship between President Mahama and the late MP to help resolve the matter peacefully.
“We remember and are aware of the friendship between the two of you to the extent that when his mother died, you attended her funeral to console your friend,” Mr Issahaku said.
“But today, he himself is dead, the burial date has been fixed, and we are being told by the chief of Tuna that we cannot bury him unless we pay a fine.”
He appealed to the President to “complete the love” he showed the late MP by helping to remove the obstacles preventing his peaceful burial.
The family also commended President Mahama for supporting the late MP’s medical treatment in Accra before his death, but said the current situation has brought embarrassment to both the family and the NDC.
“The situation has opened the door for our opponents, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to mock us,” Mr Issahaku said. “They say we keep mentioning NDC and John Mahama, yet we cannot even bury our brother who served the same party.”
Providing background to the dispute, the family recounted a long-running land case involving the late MP and the former Chief of Tuna, Isaac Dramani, who was later elevated to the Mandari skin before his death. They alleged that in 2020, the late chief ordered the destruction of a fence and other property on land the MP had occupied for about 30 years.
The family rejected claims that the late MP encouraged his kinsmen to withhold farm produce from chiefs, describing the accusations as false.
They further alleged that after the fence was destroyed, truckloads of sea sand were dumped on the land, a matter they reported to the police without any action taken.
According to the family, the late MP subsequently sued the assigns of the late chief at the Wa High Court, where the late chief allegedly admitted ordering the destruction of the fence. The case remains pending, even though both principal parties are now deceased.
The family is now calling on President Mahama to step in and help bring the matter to an amicable resolution to allow the late MP to be buried in peace.
