Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

History

Who Else Wants to Know Aboakyer is from Mumford?

Aboakyer Festival Celebrations 1970. Source: Goldcoastghana/twitter

Aboakyer Festival

The 2024 Aboakyer festival was a thrilling experience. The Dentsifo Asafo emerged victorious; they made the first catch. Dentsifo presented the live deer to the Otuano Royal Family to honour their god, Penkye Otu

Following processions, listening to sounds, observing dancers, and appreciating the celebrant’s sense of fashion, I was moved by the numbers and energies of the people present. Shockingly, I heard one of the celebrants say, “Aboakyer fri Dwomma”,” meaning Aboakyer is from Dwomma

Arrogantly, I began to ask myself, how is Aboakyer, the festival, uniquely associated with Winneba people from Dwomma

The end of the Aboakyer festival began in my head many questions about its origin. What and who is Dwomma? How did Dwomma institute the Aboakyer festival?

Are you also moved by the profound statement of the celebrant above? Stick with me, and let’s find out if the statement will reveal more than we know. 

The first answer I sought was from the question, where is Dwomma, and what relationship do they have with the Simpa people?

 

Where and what is Dwomma?  

Dwomma is a community about 30 km west of Simpa. It is now called Mumford, just like Simpa, which is now mostly called Winneba. Fishing is the main occupation of its inhabitants. Dwomma is located in the Gomoa West District in the Central Region of Ghana. 

Dwomma is a Guan community. However, due to their location, they now associate with the Gomoa people rather than their Guan ancestry. Their Guan origin is evident in the names of its traditional leaders. The word Dwama/Dwomma in Effutu (the language of the people of Simpa) means ‘wait, I’m coming soon’. The Guan origin of the Dwomma people and their linguistic semblance with the Effutu language further unearth their relationship with Simpa. These indications compelled me to search Simpa and Dwomma’s migration history. 

 

Dwomma’s origin and relationship with Simpa

According to Simpa oral tradition, which is shared on their official website, effutustate.net, the last stop the Simpa people made before reaching their present location was Dwomma

The oral traditions of Simpa reveal that when the Guan people entered into areas of Modern-day Ghana from Timbuktu, they first settled briefly at Tekyiman. From Takyiman, they dispersed. 

The Effutu people were led by their spiritual leader, Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan. They took the southwestern route towards the coast. They first settled around Jukwa. At Jukwa, some remained and founded the town of Efutu. Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan and his followers further moved to Oguaa (Cape Coast). Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan was instructed to move eastward till they reached today’s Dago area. At Dago, they pitched a camp and continued their journey. Their gods spiritually guided their search for a good land.  

Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan, under the spiritual guidance of their gods, abandoned Dago. They then settled at Dwomma. At Dwomma, he had become old. His children had come of age. His eldest sons, Gyarteh Sisi and Edwey, took over the leadership of the people at Dwomma. Here, they planted their gods and built shrines for them. 

At Dwomma, the followers of Kwamena Gyarteh Ayirebi-Gyan stayed for a long and made their home. Gyarteh Sisi’s first son, Osimpam Bondze, was encouraged by his father to look for another land. However, from careful observation of the situation, a succession dispute could have been brewing between Edwey and Gyarteh Sisi’s first son, Osimpam Bondze. The Guan ethnic group practice the patrilineal system of inheritance. Gyarteh Sisi’s son would have wanted to succeed his father. However, Edwey, who has been leading the people with his brother, might not have agreed. 

Osimpam Bondze, who had found a place following his search, migrated. He then founded Simpa, named after him. Fortunately for him and his followers, Simpa proved a favourable location than Dwomma

 

How is Aboakyer from Dwomma?

It must not be supposed that ‘Deer Hunting originated from Winneba. The Mumford people, from whom the people of Winneba descended from are supposed to be the originators. – The Western Echo, 28 November 1885 by G.J. 

Osimpam Bondze did not move to Simpa with the gods of his fathers. Hence, like the Muslims’ pilgrimage to Mecca, they visited Dwomma annually to undertake the ritual required of them for their national god, Otu. 

Today, the Chief of Winneba pays homage to the Chief of Mumford.

How did the Simpa people bring Penkye Otu to Simpa? 

Their national god, who had initially preferred human sacrifice and later a leopard, had now settled on a live deer was in Dwomma. 

The people of Simpa annually joined the Dwomma people to hunt for a live deer. Incidentally, the people of Simpa had grown in number more than Dwomma, and they requested that their national god be brought to Simpa. The people of Dwomma turned down this request. 

How was Penkye Otu moved to Simpa from Dwomma? This might be a suitable answer given by a writer in 1885. 

“…the Priest or fetish men had to exhibit the fetish yearly in the open air for one week or longer (If no rain had fallen on the earth) but as they did not keep watch the Winnebah people resolved to take the fetish away by stealth, which they did, and ever since Winnebahs have kept up the catching of the deer. It does not appear that the Mumford people made any efforts to wrest from the Winneba the worship connected with the catching of the deer: or if they did the Winnebahs took precautions of keeping watch over the fetish the whole of the time so that there could be no chance for the Mumfords taking back their fetish; and who no doubt from their increasing strength would be deterred from attacking them. It also appears that Mumford people being deprived of their fetish, relinquished the chase of the deer, and left the Winnebahs in quiet possession of their same and of the worship connected with it. The Western Echo, 28 November 1885 by G.J. 

 

The above quote reveals more than one can imagine. However, the narrative is somewhat plausible owing to the narrative about the relationship between Simpa and Dwomma.

Let me know what you think about this narrative. If you know otherwise, you can share it with everyone here and me. 

 

 

 

Written By

Stephen Baidoo is a writer who loves to research about Ghana's past. He brings Ghana's history to life with each unearthed fact and forgotten narrative, transforming dry dates into passionate stories.

4 Comments

4 Comments

  1. Stephen Afful

    May 9, 2024 at 1:46 pm

    More grease to your elbow, bro

    • Stephen Baidoo

      May 9, 2024 at 1:48 pm

      Thank you, Father. I appreciate your encouragement.

  2. Marcus Mensah

    May 10, 2024 at 1:04 pm

    Good work Stephen! Recently my Aunty told me how the Gomoa people used to sacrifice a deer to mark the beginning of their festival. No deer meant no festival. A hunter who caught a deer had to take it to the palace in his village for onward delivery to the divisional chief’s palace for it to be sacrificed to mark the beginning of the celebrations. And now you argue that the people of Dwomma are originators. Indeed Neitzche was right in encouraging us to have a deeper look at some of the things we presume to know.

    • Stephen Baidoo

      May 10, 2024 at 1:14 pm

      Well, your aunt’s narrative reveal there is more for us to explore. I hope someone takes up the task to go deeper into the subject. A good academic paper can be generated to help us better understand the Aboakyer. Thank you, Mr Mensah.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Opportunities

Deadline: October 31, 2024. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is announcing the opening of undergraduate admissions for the 2024/2025 Academic year. Prospective...

Jobs

Application Deadline: 29 April 2024 The Electoral Commission wishes to inform the General Public that as part of its preparations towards the conduct of...

Opportunities

University for Development Studies, UDS, has opened Admissions For 2024/2025 Academic Year. This admission is for Diploma, Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes. The University for...

People

Berɛ te sɛ anomaa, woankyere no na otu a, wonhu no bio Traditional festivals are revered and cherished by various ethnic groups in Ghana....