By: Emmanuel Wise Jipoh
The remains of an elderly woman, Ma Mary Massaquoi, have been buried for the second time due to what funeral home authorities attribute to mistaken identity, sparking rage among family members in Kakata, Margibi County.
The late Old Ma Massaquoi’s remains had caused serious uproar at Solomon Tubee Funeral home on Friday, May 30, 2025, when family had gone to collect her body for burial, only to realize that she had been mistakenly buried earlier.
According to the report, Madam Massaquoi, who died from a brief illness, was deposited at the Tubee Funeral two weeks ago, after she succumbed to illness. Grieving relatives gathered Friday at the funeral home to take delivery of the body for burial, but were given a different dead body.
“The body presented to us was not our body, because we noticed everything on the body and with evidence”, Emmanuel Borbor, an In-law, said.
“Our Ma had open teeth; the old Ma had big open teeth that you can recognize, and she was tall. But the person’s body they gave us was short and very old, and no teeth in her mouth, and they kept insisting; it was saddening for us”, another relative added.
The late Ma Mary sadly passed away and her family, already dealing with the shock of her death, was preparing to lay her to rest when they encountered an unimaginable ordeal that the body was nowhere to be found. They later learnt that she had been buried in Sanoyea, Bong County.
However, Police in Kakata, Margibi launched an investigation and revealed a case of mistaken identity, involving the body of an elderly woman that had also been stored at the funeral home.
“Per our investigation, we established the Tupee Funeral Home, made an error; it was a mistaken identity and we have asked them to transport the family of the late Ma. Massaquoi’s to Sanoyea to collect her remains”, a Police source presiding over the investigation, disclosed to reporters.
However, the body of the late Ma Mary was exhumed and reburied finally on Saturday, May 31, 2025, after traditional rituals, bringing to an end, emotional agony endured by her family.
“We are happy to receive our mother’s body and to give her befitting burial; her friends, Church members, everyone are happy, and the traditional rite was done”, Borbor added.
The CEO of the Solomon Tubee Funeral Home in Kakata, Patrick Tubee, admitted to a technical error by his staff, which led to the embarrassment. Editing by Jonathan Browne
