In Ghana they make flamboyant designs of coffins. The hearses could be models of aeroplanes, houses, ships, vehicles or anything that the deceased was known to love or have, especially in abundance. In Botswana, some funerals assume a
carnival atmosphere like weddings and birthday parties. There will be meat galore, fat cakes to go with endless pots of tea at the feet of old men sitting downcast on traditional stools by a crackling fireplace. mAt one funeral in Boteti, a cow was slaughtered every day until the day of burial - after two weeks - and on the day of interment, five more oxen, which could fetch a good price each at the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), were put under the knife.
At such funerals, people have a choice of what they want. Some prefer goat meat over beef or coffee over "Five Roses", or sorghum porridge to "phaletshe". Cynics, however, say it is the only time such people have a choice of what they want whereas at their homes, they would 'chow' on beef or guzzle "Five Roses" like it is some bitter medicine, with little or no choice at all. At the end of it all, common comment is known to be, "Rre yo o fitlhegile tota" (this man has been given a proper send -off). Woe-be-tied a funeral where there is no meat, or food in abundance, in the mould of Budaza's song "Mokete o senang nama". People only come on the day of the funeral, at times to merely help with loading of the coffin on to a ramshackle vehicle, or in some cases, a donkey cart. At such funerals vigils only last until 10pm when mouners are told to come the following day for the burial. Contrarily, wakes of the rich go on until the wee hours, or until the deceased is taken to their final resting place.
