UK Agrees To Return Ghana’s Stolen Gold Artefacts On Loan

The United Kingdom has agreed to return some of Ghana’s “crown jewels” which were looted over a century ago from the court of the Asante king.

The 32 items linked to British colonial history in West Africa were mostly looted from Kumasi during the Anglo-Asante wars of the 19th century.

The objects include a gold peace pipe and a sword of state from London’s British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum.

The items will be loaned under two separate three-year agreements and are due to form part of an exhibition planned for the Ghanaian king’s silver jubilee celebration later this year.

According to the BBC, Ghana’s chief negotiator said he hoped for “a new sense of cultural co-operation” after generations of anger.

Some museums in the UK – including the V&A and the British Museum – are banned by law from permanently giving back contested items in their collections, and loan deals such as this are seen as a way to allow objects to return to their countries of origin, the BBC reported.