Government urged to initiate policy to return art works

Accra, March 3, GNA - Oyeeman Wereko Ampem II, Chancellor of the University of Ghana, on Thursday called on Government to initiate a policy that would return art works to the country.

"It is unfortunate that such works and collections which reflect our past and tell us who we are have found their way to western museums and private homes," he said, when he presented a collection of Ashanti gold weights worth 26,000 dollars to the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

"It is my hope that this collection would contribute to unfolding the patterns and practices that characterize the lives of our ancestors," he said.

Oyeeman Ampem called on the Institute to make sure that everything would be done to maintain the collection itself that consisted of thousands of delicate symbols in satisfactory condition.

He called on the Alumni in the country's universities to contribute to the administration and development of their universities and to accept this responsibility as being a major professional obligation to rededicate their energies towards meeting the important challenge. "Many universities in the world have benefited both financially and in diverse ways from past students."

He said apart from the academic benefits, which students and researches would derive from the collection, a way would be found to satisfy the needs of tourists and Ghanaians through open exhibitions. Professor Kwadwo Asenso Okyere, Vice Chancellor of the University, said he was worried about the absence of worthwhile national museums in the country describing it as "a sad situation".

He called on the National Commission on Culture and other organisations to take the establishment of museums seriously so that the country did not lose important parts of her history.

He called on traditional authorities in the country to donate many of the artefacts they possessed to the University to be exhibited.