The graveyards of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, are as bleak as they are notorious.Lying neglected between piles of rubbish and weeds are tombstones that may have been used for animal sacrifice, or graves that have been ripped open.Repelled one day by what he saw at a cemetery in Nagrin, a district in the south of the city, one man thought he would do a little tidying-up.Today, after 14 years’ labour, the graveyard has been transformed. Not a weed is in sight. A fountain has been installed for ritual ablutions and the site boasts a hearse service and free toilets. A map is proudly on show at the entrance. The home of the dead has been reborn.The single-minded volunteer is Boukary Pagmokgda, a man in his fifties known locally as “the mayor of the cemeteries”.Far from looking funereal, his weathered face becomes wreathed in smiles when he is asked to speak about his work.”I buried my younger brother here 14 years ago,” he said in a raspy voice.”I started to do some digging, and it was hard work — there were too many weeds.”I started to do some cleaning up in the cemetery in Nagrin, then in Kamboisin, followed by Tenga, and in the end I came back to Nagrin to work. If you go around all the cemeteries, Nagrin is No. 1 for tidiness.”Pagmokgda said he was unpaid for his efforts, and survives through donations from mourners.”Before, this place wasn’t fenced off and there was a lot of crime,” said Gael, a construction worker, who had come for a burial.”If you go to other graveyards (in Ouagadougou), it’s not kept up like this.”- Tomb robbers -The pristine state of Nagrin is a rare exception among the city’s 21 graveyards.Unfenced or lacking watchmen, many have become havens for delinquents and muggers.There are also individuals who creep in at night to sacrifice animals on tombstones, and some who even steal human remains from graves for dark rituals.”People do these things to obtain (spiritual) protection or to honour a promise to someone,” said Assonsi Soma, a University of Ouagadougou academic who has written about the city’s graveyards. “It’s a common phenomenon which is loathed by the public… but people do it all the same — they are told to do so by witch doctors and they have no choice but to take the risk.”Pagmokgda said he protected his beloved Nagrin through social media.”If you come here and make animal sacrifices, I will take pictures and post them,” he said.”They’ve made threats against me, but they don’t come back, they’re afraid of social networks,” he said.Pagmokgda said he was still struggling to overcome suspicions among local people, some of whom called him a “madman” for frequenting the cemetery.And, he said, he still received no help from the authorities.”City hall has given me a blank look for the last 14 years,” he said. “They don’t give me a shovel or even a wheelbarrow.”- No budget -Soma pinned the blame on money. Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, is battling a seven-year-old jihadist insurgency that has ravaged its already-strained economy.”City hall has responsibility for the graveyards, but at the moment there’s no specific budget for them. It’s left to private people to take care of them,” said Soma. “The graveyards are the big forgotten issue of urban governance.”Pagmokgda said he shrugged off official indifference for his work.But, he thought philosophically, Death — the great leveller — should be respected by all.”I love this work, and I love tidiness,” he said.”Even if you earn millions, even if you have an air-conditioned bathroom or car, you’re going to end up here. “So wouldn’t it be better to prepare for your move, and start to tidy things up?”
