the "aboakyer festival" is a bushbuck hunting festival celebrated by the people of winneba in the central region of ghana. the name "aboakyer" translates as ‘hunting for game or animal’ in fante dialect as spoken by the people of the central region. the institution of the festival was to commemorate the migration of the "simpafo"(the aboriginal name of the people of winneba). the people believed that a god, who they called penkye otu, had protected them from all dangers during their migration and to show their appreciation, the people consulted the custodian of the god, a traditional priest who acted as an intermediary between the people and the god, to ask the god for its preferred sacrifice. to their astonishment, the god asked for a human sacrifice, someone from the royal family. this sacrifice went on for some years but was later stopped as the people were no longer interested in human sacrifices. a request was made to the god to change the sacrifice type, as they believed that sacrificing royalty could eventually wipe out the royal family. the god in return asked for type of wild cat to be caught alive and presented to it at its shrine. after the presentation, it was to be beheaded as a sacrifice. this was to be done annually in a festival.