Gov't urged to resource Museums and Monuments Board

Accra, July 10, GNA - Mr Barth Opoku Acheampong, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, has urged the government to resource the Board to enable it to send staff to the borders to check the illicit trafficking of artefacts by some handicraft exporters.

This, he said, would help maintain the country's cultural heritage.

Mr Acheampong told the GNA in an interview in Accra on UNESCO's demand for the return of cultural objects taken away during the Colonial days that the Board in the past had inspectors at the ports to check the smuggling of authentic artefact by exporters.

However, this was stopped in 1997 because the Ghana Export Promotion Council claimed they were worrying exporters.

He said in 1970 UNESCO came out with a statement that all cultural objects that represented the cultural heritage of independent countries that had been sent out, collected, bought or stolen should be returned to their places of origin to maintain and enrich the cultural heritage of those countries.

"Mr Rene David, a collector of cultural monuments who was touched by the appeal of UNESCO has brought back 47 cultural objects made up of chieftaincy regalia, gold objects and terracota figurines from Komaland" he said. Komaland is in the Northern Region.

Mr Acheampng said the return of the objects is a donation from Mr David's family to enhance Ghana's cultural heritage.

He said Mr David has also donated 15,000 dollars to the Museum to showcase the returned objects on July 11 to sensitise people, who had collected items from other countries to return them to their origins. "Mr Rene David has also given to the Museum items including, a computer with two printers, scanner, still and digital camera and has installed a new telephone system costing 13,000 dollars for their documentation" he said.

Mr Acheampong said he expected that items that had been collected and sent out of the country would be brought back to tell the complete history of this country.