Some coffin sellers in Kumasi have lamented over the way people, especially women, fear to come in contact with them because of the nature of their work.
According to some of these coffin sellers who operate in Bantama and Asafo, their work is just ordinary like every other work.
They said there’s nothing that makes them different from other people, and they’re therefore asking the general public to discard negative thoughts about them.
Speaking to GhanaWeb about the nature of their job on the grounds of relationship with people, financial stands and marketing strategy, most of these coffin makers said all was well until when COVID-19 came.
Explaining the covid-19 effect, some of these coffin sellers disclosed that the restrictions that followed the covid-19 orders made it very difficult for people to patronage their products as used to be.
“Every family was waiting for the President to ease funeral restrictions before they could come for the coffins. Even though some few families came for them when the President allowed for a private burial, but majority were those who preferred to wait till a total ease was made,” a coffin seller at Bantama revealed.
Talking about the prices of their coffin, they said prices range from Gh¢400, Gh¢500 to Gh¢8,000 depending on the type of coffin the individual wants to purchase.
The coffin sellers revealed some names like Nineteen steps, Motar, Kyawkyaw, Anamon tiaa and many others.
Recounting some relationship challenges they face, these coffin sellers disclosed that some people, especially ladies sometimes fear to come near them due to the nature of their work.
They however revealed that despite others having such negative notions about them, those who are bold enough to come near them really enjoy flexible living with them..
“We want to tell people especially ladies who think we are different because of the nature of our work, that, we are not any other beings but just ordinary like the others. There’s nothing strange about us that make us different,” they said.
They therefore call on people who anticipate fear on them to desist since their work is just ordinary.
A coffin designer at Asafo revealed to GhanaWeb that carpenters are able to carve coffin based on the profession of the deceased person under request of the family.
“We are able to mould a pen or book for deceased teachers, and penis for a prostitute or a womanising deceased. We carve cocoa for cocoa farmers and many others based on the person’s profession.
In fact, designing such special caskets fetch us a lot of money than the normal ones. This is because families that make such requests are always ready to afford any amount we charge. Not withstanding that, works on such special ones are very difficult,” they concluded.