The Government has promised the chiefs and people of Winneba a 24-hour service ultramodern gated market to open the ancient coastal city up for more businesses.

The market will operate day and night under a strong security protection with a police post, a fire station, a crèche and other critical installations in line with the government’s flagship 24-hour economy policy.
Mr Ahmed Ibrahim, the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, made the promise in swift response to a request by Neenyi Ghartey VII, the Paramount Chief of the Effutu Traditional Area, at the grand durbar of the 2025 Aboakyer Festival.
He noted that the establishment of such markets was originally to commence from all the 16 regional capitals, but Winneba, being a strategic town, would take the lead.

Stressing the contribution of festivals to development, he indicated that the market would be built to honour the Paramount Chief of Effutu and give the city a facelift.
“When we are coming back in 2026, we will be coming to follow up on the progress of the project and not to give you stories,” he assured.
Aboakyer, which translates as the hunting of animal, is celebrated to appease the main deity of the Effutu State, Penkye Otu.
Traditionally, sacrifices offered to the gods are meant to ward off evil from the town and seek blessings of bounty harvest.
On Saturday, May 03, 2025, the city of Winneba was a cornucopia of euphoria, tradition and brisk activities as the chiefs and people of Effutu climax the festival.
This year’s celebration was on the theme: “Championing Our Ancestral Legacy.”
Hundreds of people, citizens and foreigners alike, thronged the coastal city to join the indigenes in their annual traditional celebration.
The chiefs of the traditional area, embarked on a majestic procession in colourful traditional outfits to the Presbyterian School Park, the venue for the occasion where an animated crowd waited to cheer them on.
The ceremony was incident‐free despite a heavy security presence including police, immigration, fire service, National Security, and Prisons Service.

Many young men and women, painted in various colours, paraded the streets, chanting traditional war songs.
Various traders and food vendors leveraged the occasion and enjoyed brisk sales.
The festival is climaxed by the arrival of the Asafo companies, Tuafo Asafo No.1 and Dentsefo Asafo No. 2, from their hunting expedition.
This year, the Tuafo Asafo Company was the first to return from the forest with a live bushbuck, emerging winners of the 2025 Aboakyer hunting race.
They arrived at 10:13 hours to a spontaneous jubilation from the durbar of chiefs and people.
They held the live animal aloft and presented it to Neenyi Ghartey who stepped on it three times to signify acceptance by their god, Penkye Otu for having the first catch.
The Dentsefo Asafo group, arrived later at 10: 24 hours.
Mr Ibrahim, while commending the chiefs and people for preserving the festival, entreated them to prioritise sanitation and environmental protection.

“The sustainability of the Aboakyer festival depends on the sustainability of the environment,” he stressed.
The Minister later went on his knees to appeal to the assembly members and the traditional authorities to support the Municipal Chief Executive nominee for Effufu, Mr Abraham Arthur, with a 100 per cent endorsement to enable him to champion the development of the municipality.
Neenyi Ghartey, in his address, bemoaned the sorry state of their market and the ordeal of the market women and made an appeal for a new market which befitted the status of Winneba.
“Our women sit on the floor and put their foodstuff on the floor to sell.
“Please give us a market us a legacy and we will remember you always,” he said in an appeal to the President, John Mahama.
He further emphasised how the festival fostered unity and attracted investment for the growth and progress of Winneba.
“Our festival engenders peace and stimulated our local economy and so if we continue to preserve and nurture it, we will significant development,” he stressed.
Mr Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, the Central Regional Minister, appealed to corporate institutions and investors to establish businesses, particularly factories in Winneba to create more employment for the youth in the area.
He also reiterated the commitment of government to train the youth in various skills to create jobs.
Background
The Aboakyer festival of the chiefs and people of Effutuman is held every first week in May by the natives Simpa (Winneba) in honour of their principal deity, Penkye Otu, for leading their ancestors through the perilous journey from Timbuktu to their present settlement.
Oral records have it that, their leaders in ancient times appeased the deity for all forms of protection against the numerous challenges that confronted them, including diseases and hunger throughout their journey in search of a peaceful settlement.
The annual rites were performed by the principal elders of the Otuano Royal House who established Simpa (Winneba), according to the Effutu State.
Initially, humans, considered slaves were used for the sacrifice to the gods but it had to be changed with the emergence of civilization.
The alternative, a leopard, was found to be more difficult to obtain as the capture of a single animal resulted in the loss of many more lives than the sacrifice of a single slave.
Eventually “Wansan” (the deer, now bushbuck) became a practicable and most acceptable substitute, probably before or during the reign of King Bondze Enyinam around the mid-1400s.