What you need to know about these dancing pallbearers
By Thomas MatikoIf you have been spending most of your time online especially social media, then by now you might have come across several video memes of dancing pallbearers with the coffin on their shoulders.
The lads are good if not the best at what they do; with the coffin on their shoulders the can drop on the floor on fours just to make a move, spin around and in some instances, throw the casket in the air.
And with the stay home situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, people have been killing boredom by creating interesting memes around the pallbearers.
However, there are several interesting things not known about these Ghanian pallbearers as was revealed by the group’s founder Benjamin Aidoo on NTV’s The Trend show hosted by Amina Abdi on Friday.
1. 18 Years in business
According to the founder Aidoo, they have been in business for close to two decades now. Aidoo says when the idea struck him, he quit his daytime job to concentrate on making it a reality.
“Having attended several funerals in Ghana this idea hit me. We shouldn’t feel sad for the dead but also celebrate them. I quit my job in 2003 to start this and found a few guys to do this,” Aidoo said.
To make it legal and official, Aidoo registered a company.
2. Has 100 employees
Whereas in the video memes only about five pallbearers are seen, Aidoo says his company has employed 100 people who help in executing several tasks including undertaking.
3. Has female Pallbearers
Not all the 100 employees, are male; there are a number of them who are female, some of whom also take part in the pallbearers’ send-off dances.
“Not all are men, I have employed women as well and it’s good I was able to give jobs to unemployed people as well and help put food on their table,” Aidoo notes.
4. They train for Choreography
One thing that fascinates many is how well the Ghanaian pallbearers execute the choreography with the casket on their shoulders.
The pull different acts and moves, dance around in synchronised steps and uniformity along with the casket. Aidoo said they practise a lot for the moves and dance.
“For the moves and the choreography just don’t come like that, we train every Tuesdays and Wednesday afternoon,” he said.
5. Dropping casket
The founder notes that since he started the business, despites how sometimes delicate the choreography and moves appear, he and his troupes have never dropped a single casket.
“For the 18 years in the business we have never dropped a casket. This is what we do, we train for this,” Aidoo notes.
6. Weddings
Well, if you thought they just do funerals, then you are wrong. With a 100 employees, Aidoo has a work force team that can do much more. They can offer a number of pallbearing services at ago, do undertaking activities and also handle weddings and decor.
The founder says some of the services they offer aren’t well known yet and as such they always advertise them through billboards.
7. Heavy investment on Outfits
Aidoo also notes that he invests heavily in their matching outfits for a more impressive visual effect, uniformity and professional look.
8. Overseas clients
Most of their clients are based in Ghana. However, with the new found fame and age of technology, Aidoo notes that they have increasingly been getting offers from other countries.
In such cases, the client is asked to pay for the air tickets of the pallbearers, accommodation, food and the performance fee.
9. Kenyan manager
Currently, the Ghanian pallbearers are managed by John Telewa popularly known as Kiss Bandit. Telewa, a communications consultant and content creator hit the headlines about six years ago when he attempted to break the Guiness World Record for having kissed the most women.
As of August 2014, Telewa claimed to have kissed 3,995 women among them famous celebrities’ media veteran Caroline Mutoko and singer Avril hence the nickname.