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The age-old playmate tradition between the Frafras and Dagabaas was reignited last Thursday January 12, 2023 in Wa soon after the requiem service of late Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wa, Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr.
Soon after the Mass and when it was time for pallbearers to take the mortal remains of the former head of the Catholic Church in Africa for interment, the usual drama ensued.
Some three Frafra men started jogging round the corpse of the late Clergyman and were joined later by a lady.
They explained to shocked mourners who were alien to the custom that they emerged to seize the corpse of the late Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr and demanded for dog as compensation.
A resolute group of Frafras who had planned out this at the blind side of organizer insisted on the price tag in order to allow the burial to take place to the shock of mourners.
In the end, the Dagaabas parted with Ghc200 before they allowed the corpse to be carried into a waiting hearse for burial.
Playmates
Background
It is common knowledge in Ghana that the Dagaaba and the Frafras have an admirably cordial relationship. They can joke and tease each other in the public without either taking undue offence as they have mutual understanding as Mabia, or playmates.
Either party’s age, sex, religion, educational or social status does not influence this cordial relationship; being born in either tribe is the sufficient prerequisite. Active participation in the jokes is, however, not compulsory. Although there are some who neither initiate nor participate in the jokes, neither do they prevent others from joking.
According to a research conducted by one Joseph Yelepuo Wegru, the Dagaaba-Frafra playmate relationship has gained both national and international attention.
Fraternity between these two tribes is a positive phenomenon amidst the growing number of ethnic and tribal conflicts that plague the African continent today. Having a relationship of playmates is healthy for ethnic groups, diffusing tensions in potentially dangerous situation he averred.
Source: MyNewsGh.com
