Ghana will not return looted artefacts brought from UK Museum – Diaspora Affairs Director

The Director of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President, Akwasi Awua-Ababio, has disclosed that Ghana will not return the looted Asante artefacts brought from the United Kingdom museum to Ghana.

This is 150 years after the British took them.

The thirty-two items, including a ceremonial cap decorated with gold ornaments, were received by the Asantehene during the reopening of the museum.

But according to Akwasi Awua-Ababio, even though it is initially being touted as a loan to Ghana, however, the reality is that they are going to be here as long as possible.

He added that the British are trying to circumvent their own disgrace and shameful laws that have necessitated them keeping the items for that longer period.

“We all know it is rightfully ours, and therefore I can safely assume that it is never going back again. It belongs to us as Ghanaians, we created those artefacts, nobody can take them away from us.”

He made these remarks in an exclusive interview with Kasapa News’ Akokoraba Nyarko during a high-level consultation forum on the mobilization of global reparations and racial healing movement organized by Justice and Repair (J & R) of the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund( ATJLF) in Accra.

Akwasi Awua-Ababio said the government recognizes the dias­pora as one of its biggest assets and would, through the policy, harness the potential of the diaspora to contribute to national development.

Justice and Repair (J & R)
Justice and Repair is a racial justice Initiative of the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund(ATJLF). It seeks to promote advocacy and global action on contemporary and historical crimes against the people of Africa and the Global African Diaspora. Justice and Repair will serve as an intermediary grant maker, a convenor, a narrative builder, and a repository for research and documentation on the intersection between racial and reparatory justice and healing.

Its mission is to bridge the gap between Africans and the Global African Diaspora to drive a common advocacy for racial and reparatory justice. As an intermediary funder, we build bridges between the African continent and the diaspora through grant-making, advocacy, convenings, and storytelling. We strive for a world where the barriers and structures of inequality that continue to marginalize Africans and people of the Global African Diaspora are pulled down.

The high-level consultation on the mobilization of global reparations and racial healing movement, which was convened by the African-America Institute based in the USA, brought together, stakeholders including the Head of the Diaspora Division, AU Commission, Former Commissioner and special rapporteur on refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants, Maya Sahil-Fadel and Senior Coordinator for Reparatory Justice Dr. Ahmed Zanya Bugre.

Under the Justice and Repair Initiative, ATJLF organizes periodic events and programs that bring together experts and practitioners to advance the cause of reparations.

In 2022, it organized the Accra Summit where the Accra Declaration was made.