Asantehene Osei Tutu II To Receive More Looted Gold Ornaments, Others From South Africa

• The Manhyia palace is set to receive 28 more looted gold ornament and regalia from AngloGold Ashanti in South Africa
• These items being returned date back to nineteenth-century creations of royal artisans of Asante Court
• The official presentation of the returned items is expected to be at a mini durbar at the Manhyia Palace

The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will receive 28 more gold ornaments and regalia from AngloGold Ashanti in South Africa.

Graphic Online reported that these items are traced back to the nineteenth-century creations of royal artisans of Asante Court.

The Manhyia Palace Museum said the items are part of the collection of African Gold of the AngloGold Ashanti in South Africa.

They had previously been part of the Gold of Africa Museum of AngloGold Ashanti in Cape Town before they were transferred to the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria.

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The items being returned include a linguist staff, swords, rings and necklaces, among others.

The official presentation will be this weekend at a mini durbar at the Manhyia Palace.

The durbar will coincide with the centenary anniversary of his grand-uncle's return from exile in the Seychelles, the 13th Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I.

The durbar would also be in honour of the visiting President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan.

This comes after artefacts taken from the Asante Kingdom by the British 150 years ago were returned under a three-year loan agreement.

The agreement was between the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and the Asante Kingdom.

The 32 returned artefacts included the sword of state, a gold peace pipe, and other silver and gold ornaments.

That return of artefacts was to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1873-1874 Anglo-Asante war and also the return of the Asantehene Prempeh I from exile in the Seychelles.

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The background work to secure the loan

YEN.com.gh reported that in May 2023, while visiting the UK, the Asantehene told the British Museum to return gold items looted from the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.

At the time, in addition to meeting King Charles, he also met with the director of the British Museum to discuss how the items could be returned to Ghana.

This was after the UK returned a Benin Bronzes collection to Nigeria. The items being loaned were mostly taken during past wars between the Asante and British during colonial times.

Source: YEN.com.gh