‘Ghost catcher’ in trouble for hunting in sacred grove

A celebrated hunter at Sefwi Dansokrom in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District of the Western Region who took his trade too far by trapping game in an abandoned cemetery, now turned into a sacred grove, is in trouble with the elders of the town.

His offence? Kwaku Nkuah, 35, had gone trapping game at the abandoned cemetery, an area the villagers have been forbidden to visit.

What worsened matters was that Nkuah had broadcast throughout the village that his trap had caught a ghost.

This alarm attracted a large number of people from Dansokrom, Donkorkrom, Bankromisah, all nearby villages and others from far and near to catch a glimpse of the ghost.

The crowd that rushed to the village attracted the attention of the elders who did not know about the hunting expedition and demanded to know the reason for the near stampede after which they invited Nkuah to explain his action.

According to the elders it was a taboo to hunt in the abandoned cemetery and they believed Nkuah had committed a great crime which must not be left unpunished.

Opanin Kofi Nkrumah, a spokesperson for the elders said serious preparations were being made to appease the dead before any calamity befell Nkuah and his family or the entire village.

He said Nkuah would be summoned soon after the pacification of the dead to explain why he went to the cemetery to set traps when he knew very well that it was a forbidden area.

According to Opanin Nkrumah the elders were not aware that people were still hunting in the cemetery and said a very serious decision has been taken and the next person to be caught would not have it easy.

Narrating his side of the story to The Mirror, Nkuah said he had been setting traps to hunt game like rats, grasscutters in the abandoned cemetery for several years without any incidence.

He said when last week he went to inspect the traps, he saw that one of them was loose. He was very sure that the trap had caught an animal so he rushed there only to find that there was no animal in it or in sight.

Nkuah said rather he saw signs of a fierce struggle around the place indicating that "something" had been trapped but had managed to free itself leaving in its trail a white calico and a white cloth with human footprints all over.

Believing that his trap had caught a ghost, Nkuah said he passed out and when he regained consciousness, he rushed home to narrate his ordeal and that attracted a lot of people who thronged the scene.

Their belief that the trap had caught a ghost was confirmed when an appeal by the elders of the village to those who stole the animal to return it, yielded no results.

It was quickly concluded that the footprints and the white calico and white cloth were left there by the ghost who escaped from the trap.

Meanwhile, the whole village is awaiting the outcome of the meeting between the elders and Nkuah.

Culled from The Mirror and written by Abubakar Seidu