Looted Asante Artefacts: Can anyone in good conscience sustain a law that protects illegality? - Otumfuo jabs British govt

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has expressed his frustration about British laws preventing the return of artefacts of the Ashanti Kingdom that were looted by the British during the Sagrenti War in 1874.

The Asantehene, while delivering a lecture on "Asante Culture and Heritage: Past and Present", at the British Museum, in the United Kingdom, on Friday, July 19, 2024, could not comprehend why the laws barring the return of the looted artefacts are still in force even though it has been generally accepted that the said items were acquired by the British illegally.

Even though he praised the British for the recent loaning of 32 of the artefacts after an agreement, the King indicated that laws barring the return of the items cannot remain.

“It remains our inalterable position that articles of cultural importance looted or procured in unethical circumstances through the colonial enterprise be restored to their owners. This is the position of UNESCO and the position clearly endorsed by the government of France. We are mindful of some residual resistance but in the main, we will contend that all of us in this room are victims of a system in need of updating.

“We are either victims of a system that denies justice or victims of a system that prevents us from administering justice and doing what we know to be the right thing. From both sides, we need sincerity to appeal to our conscience. Nobody disputes the fact that many of the cultural articles were obtained in illegal or unethical circumstances. Can anyone in good conscience sustain the enactment of a law to protect illegality? That has to be a monumental challenge to jurisprudence and I dare say a challenge to what I unshakeably believe to be British justice,” he said.

The Asantehene, therefore, urged the British government to as soon as possible review the laws protecting the “illegalities”.

“My sincere hope is that in the fullness of time, sooner than later, state authorities will take steps to review laws contrived to protect illegalities and permit all concerned to apply themselves to the rational resolution of the challenge of restitution.”

Watch the Asantehene's lecture below:



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