Afia Schwarzenegger, during an interaction with fans on TikTok live, drowned in tears over the government’s plans to leverage funerals to boost tourism.
This is the second time she has reacted to the development as during the first instance, she wrote down her thoughts on Instagram.
One can recall that in an exclusive interview with UTV, the Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said Ghanaians love funerals, and as such, it is a space for providing an opportunity for patrons to discover the various attractions scattered across the 16 regions of Ghana.
“Ghanaians love funerals and it is fertile ground for tourism. When there are funerals, people gather at places. What we want to do with the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA is that whenever there are funerals, we’ll also find tourist attractions in those areas where the funerals occur so that when they finish, [we can] bus those who attend the funerals to key tourist sites. We’re going to serve a lot of Ghanaian dishes at the funerals, Ghanaian drinks, sobolo [hibiscus tea] and co,” he established.
However, it appears Afia has brooded over this development severally and has resorted to a more emotional approach to relay her thoughts.
Expressing utmost disappointment while crying her eyes out, Afia said,
“Old people, I mean our authorities sat down and thought through that the only way we can boost tourism in this country is to wait for people to die? Is it through funerals we can boost tourism? It’s sad. It's heartbreakingly sad. For me and my children, I can afford every hospital if I am sick.
"I can even afford to take my children out of this country. What about the poor? Your minister is telling you to take advantage of funerals. Throughout my life, I haven’t heard of this. The question is who should die? Who should die for us to drive tourism? Are you not ashamed?
“If the minister of state thinks that boosting tourism is through funeral excursions, it is sad. As an ambassador of orphans, I am sad for the people in the orphanage. No wonder there are beds in Korle-Bu and Komfo Anokye hospitals. We have mothers and pregnant women sleeping on the floor. Because they have gone to the cabinet to approve the funeral excursion.
"We had full-grown men clapping for this man over his stupid comments. These are our leaders. These are people we are paying and providing security for. We pay them and they are even able to afford treatment outside the country. He said Ghanaians love to die and that’s why they are killing us with all their power.”
Meanwhile, other celebrities have also kicked against the idea.
Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.
