By Kudra Maliro
A new trend of funeral and mourning is gaining ground in Cameroon with people from different walks of life spending money on customised coffins. These fantasy coffins are usually done according to the profession of the deceased.
The business of making such coffins is booming in Bamenda, in the English-speaking region of the country.
Once a thriving city in the North West region of Cameroon, Bamenda has been drained of its soul by years of violence.
It has been the scene of a six-year conflict between separatists and Cameroonian armed forces.
The conflict has killed many people, forced hundreds of thousands to flee and crippled the economy of Bamenda, among other cities.
Amid the violence, "it's a blessing to be buried, and especially by one's family and loved ones," Arnaud Kouamo, a Cameroonian journalist based in Bamenda, told TRT Afrika.
Growing demand
The the coffin industry is quite flourishing. Funeral homes are springing up. In some communities funeral festivities and the quality of coffin define the social status of the deceased.
With the growing demand for the customised caskets has provided an opportunity carpenters in the city like Ndeh.
"I met a woman who had a simple machine and also worked in the coffins business, so I started working as a carpenter making coffins. And customising coffins became my passion," says Ndeh at TRT Afrika.
The 43-year-old coffins maker says his customers come from the Christian community.
Bamenda has about 600,000 thousand inhabitants. Despite the low income of the population, some are willing to spend up to US$3,500 for a personalised casket to honour a deceased relative or loved one.
The coffins are made in different forms and shapes ranging from the shape of a microphone, a shoe, a bible, to the shape of a vehicle or a bottle to reflect the interests, lifestyle or last wishes of the deceased.
Making the coffins is a great art that requires excellent skills. "I design all kinds of drawings, for example microphones, bibles, cars, houses, in fact whatever you need, I can give it to you. I can also do designs of lions, tigers or elephants or other animals' shapes,'' says Mr. Ndeh.
Love and respect
Several residents of Bamenda told TRT Afrika, they were proud of this new ritual which they say honours deceased people because they buried in a coffin with the shape of their work tool when they were alive.
But some say the practice is adding financial pressure on families in terms of burials.
"I had lost my brother a few years ago. He was a professional driver. We, his family, had already made him a classic coffin but his colleagues arrived mourning with a coffin in the shape of a vehicle. It had both touched us a lot and amused us," recalls Dingana Raymond.
"It shows respect and love by his colleagues despite the fact that he was dead,'' adds Mr. Dingana.
In June 2022, Cameroon lost one of its former football stars, Nguéa Jacques, who died at the age of 67. Jacques was a player at the national team, the Indomitable Lions.
Helping the bereaved
The local press reported the former captain of the national team and current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation (FECAFOOT), Samuel Eto'o, had offered him a coffin in the shape of a shoe estimated at several thousand US dollars to show him respect.
But this new trend, the use of personalised coffin, makes some teeth cringe. Some say fantasy coffin makers like Mr. Ndeh are making gains from the death of others. He dismisses these allegations.
"I don't wish death on anyone. Unfortunately it happens and relatives come to order coffins from me. I think my work should be praised instead. I help bereaved families bury their loved ones with dignity," Mr. Ndeh says.
