A Dagbon joke laid to Rest: The Haruna Iddrisu and Dr. Mahama Seth Sayibu age debate ends!

A long-running family joke in Dagbon has quietly come to an end following the passing of Dr. Mahama Seth Sayibu. For years, the good-natured debate over who was older between Dr. Sayibu and Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was a familiar anecdote in public circles. Now, with Dr. Sayibu’s death, the mystery of their ages has finally been settled.

Roots in Tradition.

Dr. Sayibu’s mother was the aunt of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu. In Dagbon tradition, it is common for relatives of a certain lineage to engage in playful banter, including teasing about seniority. One of their favorite exchanges centered on this very question: who among them was the elder?

Hon. Haruna Iddrisu often claimed Dr. Sayibu was his younger brother. Dr. Sayibu, in turn, maintained that he was the older of the two. The joke was that while Dr. Sayibu insisted on age, God had blessed and elevated Hon. Haruna to greater public prominence, and because of that, he was often regarded as the elder in practice.

The Public Joke, The Private Ages.

On the public domain, the exchange was well known, but no birth dates were publicly attached to either man. That changed with Dr. Sayibu’s passing. His death record indicated he was 58 years old. Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, the Member of Parliament and minister for education, is currently 56 and approaching 57.

The revelation brought closure to the debate. Hon. Haruna’s age was never hidden, given his long career as a public figure and a household name in Ghana. Dr. Mahama Seth Sayibu was also a public figure, though less in the national spotlight than his brother Hon. Haruna Iddrisu.

More Than an Age Dispute.

In Dagbon, this kind of joking relationship is a bond, not a quarrel. It reflects respect, familiarity, and shared history. The Haruna-Sayibu back-and-forth was a small window into that culture, carried out with humor even as both men served their communities in different capacities.

I remember the very day Lamashe-Naa was entering the Lamashegu chief palace. Dr. Sayibu joked with Prof. Iddrisu Suleman, the principal of Tamale Teacher Training College and elder brother of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, MP for Tamale South and Minister of Education, calling him “small boy”. Prof. Iddrisu Suleman told him that even his junior brother Hon. Haruna Iddrisu was older than him, and that he was not his colleague. That moment captured the spirit of their exchanges: playful, sharp, and rooted in family.

With Dr. Sayibu’s death, the joke ends, but the story of two men linked by blood, tradition, and a lifelong playful rivalry remains part of Dagbon’s living memory.