Negotiations to return Asante regalia started over 50 years ago – Agyemang-Duah

Dr. Ivor Agyemang-Duah, a prominent Ghanaian historian and advisor to Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has shared insights into successful negotiations with the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum for the return of Asante regalia to the Manhyia Palace in Ghana.

In a groundbreaking cultural collaboration, the Manhyia Palace Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the British Museum have disclosed plans for the display of gold and silver regalia linked to the Asante royal court at the Palace Museum in Kumasi.

This display is part of a significant long-term loan commitment by the V&A and the British Museum.

The announcement marks a historic moment as many of these regal items, unseen in Ghana for over 150 years, will return to their roots. Dr. Ivor Agyemang-Duah detailed the negotiations, revealing that talks unfolded during the Asantehene’s visit to London in 2023.

In an interview on Citi Breakfast Show, Dr. Agyemang-Duah highlighted the concerns raised by past Asante rulers regarding the regalia held by the British Museum.

“This issue of bringing back these items [artefacts] has been on the drawing board for over half a century. And it’s not just an immediate concern. It has been a concern of about three or four past Asantehenes. But this year is critical in the sense that it must be the 150 years of the war, 100 years since the return of Agyemang Prempeh from exile in Seychelles and 25 years of the current Asantehene Osei Tutu II on the stool.

He added, “While in London in May 2023, having official discussions with directors of these museums, he [Asantehene] reopened negotiations and asked two of us [myself and British professor of African and Asante history, Malcolm McLeod], to help in the technical decisions that will be reached. We have been working on it for the last nine months and that brings us where we are today.”

The Ghanaian historian indicated that the artefacts would be sorted to see the ones that were looted, stating that the ones from the Victoria & Albert Museum were stolen.

Asked why the stolen regalia are being loaned to the Manhyia Palace, he underscored the importance of the strict laws governing the two museums.

“The historical antecedents of that bring itself to the question you asked, the moral rights. But there is also the other side to deal with, the laws of antiquity in the UK. These are national museums governed by very strict laws. And these laws do not permit them to give back permanently objects that were looted, stolen or whatever. And so that has also been the constraining factor in all those discussions that have on over the last 50 years,” he said.