Africa slowly turning to cremations, though long taboo
By RODNEY MUHUMUZAMay 26, 2018 GMT
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) Wailing women, long speeches, livestock slaughtered for a feast. For many in Africa, funerals are multi-day gatherings and deeply traditional, with elaborate burial rites to emphasize the belief that the dead are not really dead.
So some Africans are uncomfortable with the rise of cremations, long considered taboo but a growing necessity as migration to cities is crowding out graveyard space and producing a landless generation without cash for a funeral.
ADVERTISEMENT
Last month authorities in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, urged Kenyans to accept cremation amid a shortage of space at the public cemetery in the neighborhood of Lang’ata, where some bodies have been piled on top of others.