First batch of looted artefacts arrive in Manhyia Palace - Report

The Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, the seat of the Asante kingdom, has received the first batch of looted artefacts from the Fowler Museum in California, USA, as part of a restitution agreement between the museum and the palace.

The artefacts, which include gold, bronze artefacts and silver ornaments, were among the items taken by the British soldiers during the Sagrenti War in 1874, when they invaded the Asante Kingdom.

After several engagements between Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and the English Monarch, the British government offered to send some of these items back to Ghana on a three-year loan.

Otumfuo Hiahene, Nana Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjeu Woahene II, of the Manhyia Palace in a video shared on X by 3News, confirmed that the first batch of the items have been returned.

“Fowler Museum in California, has delivered seven precious items which will be on display on Thursday. Those things that were taken from our forefather, many years ago, have now found their way home,” he stated.

Otumfuo Hiahene, added also that the palace is expecting the rest of the items later in the year.

“Somewhere between April and May, we will be receiving more items from Britain also,” he added.

Background

Discussions on the restitution of African artefacts looted during the colonial era, significant strides have made as repatriations gain momentum across the continent.

Notably, in the Republic of Benin, 26 royal artifacts plundered by the French colonial army in 1892 have returned to the Dahomey Kingdom, while Ethiopia celebrates the largest act of restitution in its history, with 13 treasures reclaimed from the British after the 1868 Battle of Maqdala.

In Ghana, the Asantehene is advocating for the return of Asante gold regalia from British museums, with expectations of a positive outcome in 2024, coinciding with the silver jubilee coronation of the 16th Asante monarch.

The Manhyia Palace Museum is being prepared to receive these artifacts, promising to bolster tourism in the region, Graphic.gh.com reports.

The restitution efforts align with two significant events in 2024 – the commemoration of 150 years since the third Anglo-Asante war of 1874 and the centenary of the return of the 13th Asantehene, Prempeh I, from 28 years of exile in the Seychelles archipelago.

In a meeting with the Director of the British Museum during his visit to London in May 2023, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II expressed his desire for restitution, receiving assurances that the British Museum would consider his request within the framework of established laws.

The Asantehene's team, including historian Ivor Agyeman-Duah and former Keeper of Ethnography at the British Museum, Prof. Malcolm McLeod, has since engaged in discussions with museum officials, signalling progress.