Aboakyer

A live animal for the god

Aboakyer means “catching a live animal” in Fante. The festival is an ancient rite of sacrifice to the god Otu, held by the Effutu people of Winneba in Ghana’s Central Region to celebrate their safe migration from the ancient Western Sudan empire, to drive away evil and to foretell a good harvest. According to tradition, the priest first told the people that the god required a young member of the royal family every year. They pleaded for an animal instead, and the god accepted a wild cat, on condition that it was caught alive — but so many people died trying to capture one that they appealed again to Penkye Otu, named after the place where the people had settled, and the god accepted a bushbuck. The story was handed down in songs, war chants and tales told on moonlit nights.

The hunt and the durbar

On the eve of the festival the two Asafo companies — the Tuafo, number one, and the Dentsifo, number two — perform rituals and bring out their gods, an event that draws large crowds. Early on Saturday morning they set off for their hunting grounds with only sticks and clubs. Meanwhile the paramount chief, sub-chiefs, dignitaries and the public gather at the durbar grounds and wait for the catch amid drumming and dancing. The first company to bring back a live deer and present it for the Omanhene, the paramount chief, to step on three times is declared that year’s winner. The streets fill with celebration until the animal is laid at the shrine, where it awaits sacrifice the next day, and the Asafo companies display their colourful flags across the traditional area.