Hehehehehehehehe.....

Enjoy.
        Madiba.
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                Tuesday, 22 February, 2000, 16:11 GMT
                Ghanaian attends own funeral



Mourners at a Ghanaian funeral were astounded when the "dead" man arrived
for the ceremony, reports Kweku Sakyi Addo from Accra.

There has been drama about life and death in the village of Adaklu-Dabalu
in the Volta region of Ghana, with a moral about who is more deserving of
the family's money - the living or the dead.

It began when Cujoe Gokah, 32, who had had surgery for a hernia, could not
raise 450,000 cedi ($120) to pay hospital bills.

After several fruitless attempts by the hospital to get the family to pool
the cash to pay the bill, surgeon Dr AK Tachie came up with a fundraising
idea bound to hit the target.

According to the Ghanaian Times, the surgeon sent a message to Kujoe's
family that he had died.


                                        Prompt response

The response was prompt and efficient. The family sent a delegation to
settle all the medical bills, and arrange for the body to be handed over
for the funeral and burial

A few days later mourners arrived dressed in red and black chanting funeral
dirges and singing the praises of the one they had lost

They had even bought a coffin which they brought along.

Suddenly Cujoe appeared in the door, to the astonishment of the mourners.
The doctor explained it had been his ploy to get them to pay Kuju's bills.
Their joy at finding Kuju alive was much stronger than the doctors trickery


                                        Talcum powder

Their dirges turned to songs of happiness. They covered Cujoe from head to
toe in talcum powder which is a symbol of triumph, and carried him shoulder
high.

Instead of weeping there was dancing and singing and merrymaking all night
when they returned to Cujoe's village.

They returned the coffin to the coffin maker who graciously took it back
and returned their money.

Cujoe has since become a tourist attraction. Schoolchildren are playing 100
cedi a time to see a man who once - sort of - died, but now lives.


                                -- BBC NEWS ONLINE --

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