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Pieli: Into the Wild, Why Traditional Hunting Still Thrives in Northern Ghana
At the break of dawn in the bushes of Tibornayiri a remote village just outside Tamale, a group of men, dressed in patched smocks with their trained dogs and armed with handmade guns and machetes, slip quietly into the savanna. Charms tied around their waists sway as they move. This is not a scene from a bygone era, it happens every dry season. The men are on pieli, a centuries old communal hunt deeply rooted in the culture of Northern Ghana.
For generations, pieli is seen beyond a quest for bushmeat, but rather a rite of passage, a survival strategy, and a spiritual exercise rolled into one. Elders speak of it as a dance between man and nature, a tradition carried out with reverence for the spirits of the land and the animals pursued.
Issifu Alhassan, a 58-year-old hunter from Savelugu, said “Pieli” is a Dagbani word from the Dagomba people in Northern Ghana that refers to a traditional communal hunting expedition. It is typically organised during the dry season and involves groups of men from a village or community coming together to hunt wild animals, not just for food, but also for spiritual, medicinal, and cultural purposes.
The practice often follows specific rituals and taboos, such as avoiding certain sacred areas or abstaining from hunting on specific days. Pieli is seen as both a practical means of survival and a symbolic act of unity, bravery, and ancestral connection.
He said, they don’t hunt just to fill their pots, but rather for rituals, to heal the sick, and to honour the ancestors.
According to him, the hunt, which peaks between November and March, is carefully timed, the dry season strips the bush bare, making tracking easier.
“Hunters often consult lunar calendars and village elders before setting out, where in many communities, certain days are off-limits, and some groves remain sacred no hunting allowed,” he added.
Mohammed Zakaria, another seasoned hunter in an interview said, not all animals are meant to be killed, explaining that pregnant ones, are left unhunt and as well they don’t hunt near shrines, which is our way of keeping balance.
He revealed that, in the Tamale markets, bush meat once shared within families has become a commodity, which has led to rise in demand, especially during festivals, wild rabbit, bush rat, and antelope fetch high prices.
Alhassan revealed an interesting happening saying, they don’t see animals like how they used to due to degradation.
We now travel farther, using more aggressive methods, which have left us to break old rules of hunting, he said.
To curb overhunting, Ghana’s Wildlife Division enforces a “Closed Season” from August to December, banning hunting nationwide, but in the rural north, enforcement is a challenge.
Many hunters feel misunderstood. “They ban us without offering alternatives,” Zakaria says. “This is our way of life. How do we stop?”
Some communities are taking matters into their own hands, mixing modern conservation with traditional wisdom. Others call for education instead of punishment.
Mr Abdul Rahman, a conservationist working with a local NGO said, hunters should be seen as partners, in order to achieve the goal of the wildlife authorities, saying the hunters know the bush better than anyone.
With the right support, they can help protect it, he added.
As the sun start settling lower revealing it beautiful silhouette, the hunters return from the bush in trucks full of hunters with their dogs, tired, quiet, and reverent.
Their catch is modest, a grasscutter, a hare, and a few guinea fowl. Not a bounty, but enough for supper.
For now, pieli endures, not just as a hunt, but as a bond between generations
By Geoffrey Buta
Mr. Alfred Nii Kotey Ashie, the Member of Parliament for the Odododiodioo Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, has assured the Accra Street Academy of his support in achieving its mission of uplifting vulnerable children within the community to break the cycle of poverty. “Without the needed support, your efforts may go round in circles due to the enormity of the task. This should not be left on the shoulders of the Academy alone. You need support from both government and the private sector. With that, the Academy would be in a good position to shape the future of these children on the streets,” he said.
The Accra Street Academy, originally formed in 1985 as a boxing arena, now serves as a school for deprived children, with most of its population numbering hundreds of pupils being neglected children from the streets of Jamestown and its environs. Mr. Alfred Nii Kotey Ashie made these remarks at the annual stakeholders’ meeting and fundraising event held over the weekend under the theme “Empowering Street Children: Health and Wellness.” The event is one of the Academy’s annual programmes, organized to raise funds and other forms of support to aid the school in catering to the needs of the children and holding its Christmas get-together.
According to the MP, it is worth noting that these children are taught and provided with two meals and a snack daily through the support of benevolent members of society. In view of this, he promised to facilitate the acquisition of documents needed for the construction of an Astroturf within the school’s premises. He noted that “every child has the right to play, and therefore I pledged to do my best to secure the needed documents” for the project to commence.
The legislator disclosed that over the years, the academic programmes of the Accra Street Academy have transformed children surviving on the streets into successful adults. He therefore urged other members of society to partner with the school to “help pupils rise higher for a better Ghana.” In the 2025/26 academic year, 22 pupils were absorbed by the Accra Metro Education Directorate as they transitioned into various Junior High Schools, while still returning to the Accra Street Academy for academic support.
Ms. Yvonne Abba-Opoku, a chartered governance advisor and senior executive in the nonprofit and charity sector, stated that the best gift to give a child was education.
By Spectator Reporter
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Mrs Regina Kudom, Senior Midwifery Officer at the New Atuabo Health Centre in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, has urged expectant mothers to attend antenatal clinic regularly for safe delivery.
She revealed that “in Tarkwa and its environs many pregnant women prefer staying at prayer camps, we are not against that, you can be there, but when your time is up for your antenatal session make sure you attend.”
Mrs Kudom gave the advice when the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) observed the World Prematurity Day with pregnant women at New Atuabo, Huniso and Awudua health centres.
World Prematurity Day falls on November 17, every year, and it is celebrated to raise awareness about the challenges faced by pre-term babies and their families.
She said research suggested that sex during pregnancy could soften the cervix and potentially aid in labour preparation.
“That is the reason why we encourage pregnant women to have sex with their partners, if they do not have any health implications,” she added.
Mrs Kudom appealed to the GFGF to upgrade the New Atuabo health centre as the current structure was too small because they received many patients daily.
Madam Ayishetu Mohammed, Project Coordinator for GFGF, explained that they received donations from Project C. U. R. E and the items were given to health facilities in their operational area.
She stated that they noticed there were baby dresses, sanitary pads, and baby apparel, so they decided to distribute them among expectant mothers in three of their host communities.
Madam Mohammed said because the foundation was interested in preventive care, they brought a midwife from the Tarkwa Mine hospital to educate the pregnant women.
She extolled the midwives in New Atuabo health centre for the education they gave to the pregnant women and implored them to heed to the advice given during antenatal visits to reduce maternal deaths in the Tarkwa Nsuaem and Prestea Huni-Valley Municipalities.
Mr Paa Kwasi Egan, Deputy Chief Physician Assistance, emphasised that a pregnant woman being anemic meant she was not eating a balance diet, and added that, “Some of these women do not have money to buy food or visit antenatal clinics.”
He said when men follow their wives for antenatal visits, they would be educated extensively on why they should provide funds for their pregnant wives.
Mr Egan, therefore, encouraged all men to be involved in their pregnant wives’ antenatal care appointments so they could learn more about pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. – GNA
