The Mortuaries and Funeral Facilities Agency (MoFFA), has given management of the Battor Catholic Hospital Mortuary Annex at Anyanam. 14 days to account for the whereabouts of the body of 53-year-old Madam Georgina Tsiakie Agbasi.

The directive follows an assessment and investigation by the agency into the circumstances surrounding the reported disappearance of the deceased’s body from the facility.

Dr Phillip Sarpong, Deputy Registrar of MoFFA, said preliminary investigations had identified gaps in some of the processes at the mortuary.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Anyanam in the Ada West District, Dr Sarpong said the agency had engaged management of the facility and was working to establish what happened to the body.

He said management had assured the agency that the body would be located.

Dr Sarpong urged the bereaved family to remain calm as efforts continued to establish the whereabouts of the remains of their relatives.

Reverend Ebenezer Ogbe, a family head, however, said the family had not been directly engaged by MoFFA despite being present when representatives of the agency visited the facility, stating that the family waited to engage the agency’s representatives but was not approached.

Rev Ogbe said the family only became aware of the 14-day ultimatum after journalists who had interacted with the agency informed them about it.

“It was the media guys that told us that the mortuary management had been given two weeks to provide our royal,” he said.

He noted that the incident had caused significant emotional distress among members of the family, particularly the children and husband of the deceased.

Rev Ogbe said the family was concerned about the effect of the prolonged uncertainty on the health and wellbeing of the deceased’s relatives, saying that the husband had been particularly affected by the situation and had struggled to eat or drink since the body was reported missing.

Asked whether the family would proceed immediately with burial if the remains were located, he said that would depend on the condition in which the body was found.

He said the family remained distressed and was waiting for the outcome of the efforts to locate the remains.