On Foreign News,
A California museum has returned seven royal artefacts to Ghana’s traditional Ashanti king to commemorate his silver jubilee in the first planned handovers of Ashanti treasures looted during colonial times.
The ceremony came as pressure grows for European and US museums and institutions to restore African artefacts stolen during the rule of former colonial powers Britain, France, Germany and Belgium.
The Ghana royal treasures from the Fowler Museum, including a gold necklace, an ornamental chair and an elephant tail whisk, were presented during a ceremony of chiefs at the Manhyia Palace in the city of Kumasi in the Ashanti region.
The Ashanti monarch Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who holds an important ceremonial role in Ghana, said their return would help unite his people.
The event, held close to the 150th anniversary of the 1874 Anglo-Asante war, gathered traditional leaders, politicians and diplomats, most adorned in red and black to symbolise mourning.
The returned items have been part of the Fowler Museum’s collection since 1965.
Neighbouring Nigeria is also negotiating the return of thousands of 16th to 18th-century metal objects looted from the ancient kingdom of Benin and currently held by museums and art collectors across the United States and Europe.
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