There was a massive turn out at the third edition of the Diamond Damba Festival fun games at the Aliu Mahama Sports Stadium Annex on Saturday.
The fun games are part of activities lined up for the annual Damba Festival celebrated by many tribes in the Northern Sector of Ghana.
The 2019 edition saw an extended version where various tribes who are playmates in the Northern Sector taking to the field to display their footballing skills. The first game of the day saw the Frafra people from the Upper East Region defeating their playmates the Dagaabas from the Upper West Region 1-0. The Gonjas defeated their counterparts Kassenas by 3-1. Dagombas then defeated their Moshie counterparts by 1-0.
In the political parties’ competition, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) defeated the Convention People’s Party (CPP) 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out after both teams settled for 0-0 draw in regulation time. The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC) failed to turn up for the games.
These annual fun games are part of an initiative by Diamond FM to touch base with listeners and foster a peaceful coexistence between people across all sectors of society.
So it was therefore a positive resolve as several fans defied other equally important activities within the day and trouped to the venue for the games.
All the participating teams deserve commendation for the participating in the games. The Frafra people came with their branded BONABOTO shirts and drummers to entertain their team. The Gonjas had the Regional Football Association chairman, Alhaj Abu Hassan Mahamadu Rhyzo, honourable Soku Yahuza and a Gonja presenter Mr. Zakaria of Radio Savanna playing for them.
In the political parties’ game, the NDC had the Tamale Central Chairman of the party, Issahaku Mohammed Farouk and his deputy playing for their team. The CPP had the Regional Secretary of the party Nuhu Jingli and the Regional Organizer in attendance.
The side attraction at the games was the Goal Ball competition by the Ghana Blind Union in the Northern Region. The goal ball is a game played among the blind people. It generated a lot of interest as a keenly contested game between Sagnarigu Municipal and Tamale Metro took place immediately before the last game between Dagombas and Moshies. Even though Tamale Metro edged their opponents 9-8 at the end of the match, the participation and admiration of the audience was marvelous. The two teams were duly rewarded by the Tamale Central NDC chairman, Issahaku Umar Farouk as he presented GHC 400 to the two teams. This saw GHC 200 going to Sagnarigu and GHC 200 going to Tamale Metro.
At the end of the games, the winners all took a trophy each and some soft drinks while the losers took a football and soft drinks. A giant trophy that was donated by Northern Regional Football Association (RFA) Chairman, Alhaj Abu Hassan Rhyzo was presented to the NDC as winners of the political parties match.
The next activity for the climax of the Damba Festival will take place on Monday when a blood donation exercise will take place at the premises of Diamond FM at 7:00am. This will be done concurrently with a screening exercise and vaccination on Hepatitis B. Some vulnerable people too will be registered onto the National Health Insurance Scheme.
