Dagaaba, Frafra celebrate unity at 29th Friendly Games
The 29th Annual Dagaaba-Frafra Friendly Games came off at the El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra on Saturday, bringing together members of the two ethnic groups in a celebration of sports, friendship, culture and peaceful coexistence.
Participants featured in a series of sporting competitions, including football, volleyball, sack race, lime and spoon, tug-of-peace and a penalty shootout for senior citizens.
At the end of the competitions, the Frafra contingent won four events, while Dagaaba secured victories in five, with the men’s soccer match ending in a draw.
The Frafra won the men’s lime and spoon, men’s sack race, women’s sack race and women’s soccer competitions.
The Dagaabas won the women’s lime and spoon, men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, women’s tug-of-peace and the senior citizens’ penalty shootout.
The event was chaired by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Godwin Livinus Bessing, with Dr Matilda Aberese-Ako of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, as Guest of Honour.
Other dignitaries included Justice Gbiel Simon Suurbaareh, Justice of the Supreme Court; Professor Adams Bodomo of the University of Vienna, Austria; Professor Methodius Tuuli, a professor of medicine based in the United States of America; Professor Samuel Atintono, Principal of the Accra College of Education; Dr Anthony Baabereyir, Principal of Fosu College of Education; Brigadier General Dr Richard Naab, Commander of the Military Hospital in Kumasi; and Commodore Raymond Kyaano, Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command.
Also present were Mr Jacob Adongo Atule, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the National Youth Authority; Mr Nicholas Dery, National Coordinator of the National Apprentice Programme; Dr Sebastian Sandaare, Member of Parliament for Daffiama-Busi-Issah; Dr Stephen Sondem, a Law Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; and Mr Stephen Bemile, Vice President of Jayee University College.
In his address, Rear Admiral Bessing said the games were more than a sporting event, describing them as a celebration of a relationship sustained through history, ancestry, culture, trade, intermarriage and shared traditions.
Dr Aberese-Ako also urged the Dagaaba and Frafra to jealously protect their enviable peaceful relationship and nurture the youth to embrace and practice it.
The 30th anniversary of the Dagaaba-Frafra Friendly Games was also launched during the 29th edition.
Organisers said the 30th anniversary would be expanded into a two-day celebration, with a full day dedicated to cultural activities and performances by artistes from the two regions.
BY GORDON WELLU
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