An African king is seeking to permanently keep golden treasures loaned to him by the British Museum and the V&A in a landmark deal.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the ruler of the Asante people in Ghana, negotiated a historic deal to have ancestral artefacts temporarily repatriated by the two museums. They were handed over last week as part of a three-year loan.
The king wants to avoid handing back the Asante gold and is hopeful that a future government would change the laws which currently ban museums from repatriating artefacts abroad permanently.
The Tories have already ruled out doing so, making Labour the best chance for the legal change he needs to retain the artefacts.
British Museum and V&A bosses joined the king in the Asante capital of Kumasi on May 1 to celebrate the handover of the treasures, comprising items of royal regalia taken by British forces in the 19th century.
Tristram Hunt, the V&A director, said he supported a change to the laws, and Asante courtiers believe that the currently agreed three-year loan period may be long enough to allow the changes to be enacted.
Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, the prince and member of the Asante inner court, spoke to The Telegraph in Kumasi, explaining: “We are hoping that after the two three-year terms, things would have evolved, and your laws back home might have changed.
“We are very hopeful. Things are evolving to eventually getting them back home.”
The Government has refused to amend legal constraints on repatriating museum artefacts, but the Labour party has not set out a policy position ahead of the general election.
The British Museum Act 1963 bars the institution from handing over any items from its collection, which has led to an impasse in the Greek campaign to reclaim the Elgin Marbles, and the National Heritage Act 1983 places the same constraints on the V&A.
Under current laws, the 32 newly loaned items, which include a golden sword used to swear in tribal chieftains and gold pendants worn by attendants who ritually purify the Asante king’s soul, remain the official property of the two British museums and will have to return to the UK.
Ivor Agyeman-Duah, the writer, academic and director of the Asante king’s museum within the Manhyia Palace complex in Kumasi, aims for their permanent return.
Speaking at the Manhyia Palace Museum, Mr Agyeman-Duah confirmed that the permanent return of Asante artefacts from British collections is the end goal and “how it has been envisaged”, adding that spiritually significant treasures remaining with the king “is as it should be”.
Sources close to the palace added that the loan deal was “just the beginning” of repatriation plans for near-sacred golden artefacts to be returned to the king, and the ruler may push to repatriate more of the Asante material in the V&A and British Museum.
Mr Hunt, a former Labour MP, attended the handover ceremony in Kumasi where he told The Telegraph that a permanent return was possible.
He said: “Initially it’s a three-year loan, maybe renewable in future, but then we could see a situation whereby the 1963 Act or the 1983 Act was reformed in future.
“My view is that those acts should be reformed and trustees should have responsibility for what is in their collection.
He added: “But that’s not where the Government is at the moment, and we have to respect that.”
The king or “Asantehene” is a unifying figure for the Asante, who by tradition was ordained by heaven to sit on the Golden Stool, the equivalent of a throne, and who wields significant political and judicial power in the present day.
In 1874, the Asante were defeated by the British in the Third Anglo-Asante war, having earned a reputation as warriors by defeating colonial troops in previous conflicts, and the king’s ceremonially significant golden regalia were taken as a war indemnity.
These were auctioned off to major institutions including the British Museum and what would become the V&A to raise money for widows and injured soldiers.
In May 2023, the current Asante king began negotiating with the British Museum and V&A to reclaim golden regalia ahead of the 150th anniversary of when it was taken from his ancestors when British forces took Kumasi.
The long-term vision to keep the loaned artefacts permanently may be helped by the rolling nature of the V&A’s deal, which can be extended from its initial three-year term.
British Museum representatives in Kumasi did not comment on legal changes but said there would be “future projects” with the Asante.
The Tory government has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of reforming the two acts which compel national museums to keep their collections, held on behalf of the British public, intact.
This has led to an impasse in a string of repatriation struggles over the Benin Bronzes, Ethiopian sacred tablets, and the Elgin Marbles.
While Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader has reportedly been open to returning the Elgin Marbles, his party has not set out a policy position regarding the British Museum and National Heritage Acts.
The Labour party has been contacted for comment.
