NewzPresident John Dramani Mahama has highlighted the return of the sacred Mpomponsuo sword to Ghana as evidence of the importance of restoring African cultural heritage to the communities to which it belongs. Addressing a high-level side event at the United Nations General Assembly, President Mahama recalled the destruction and looting of Kumasi by British forces in 1874 and said the return of a portion of Asante heritage in 2024 demonstrated that restitution could reconnect historical objects with living traditions. He said the Mpomponsuo sword was more than a historical artefact because it remained connected to an active traditional institution and community.
“Its return reminded us that these are not mere relics of a bygone era. They belong to living traditions, active institutions, and communities that are still here,” he said. President Mahama used the example to argue that restitution should focus not only on the physical return of objects but also on restoring their cultural meaning and relationship with the societies that created them.
He called for the international community to develop systems that would make similar returns easier, faster and more transparent. President John Dramani Mahama has framed Ghana’s campaign for the return of cultural heritage as a question of dignity and historical justice rather than simply a dispute over legal ownership. Speaking in New York, President Mahama said the removal of African cultural objects during colonial conquest had separated communities from important elements of their history, identity and traditions.
“This is not a story about static objects in museum cases. It is a story about an unfinished journey toward justice,” he said. He cited the 2024 return of a portion of Asante heritage, including the sacred Mpomponsuo sword, as an example of how restitution can reconnect living communities with traditions that remain relevant today.
President Mahama said African cultural heritage should be understood as part of living societies rather than as relics belonging solely to the past. He called for stronger international cooperation to ensure that the return of such heritage becomes a structured process capable of restoring historical links between communities and their cultural institutions. President John Dramani Mahama has used the destruction and looting of Kumasi in 1874 to highlight Ghana’s historical experience of the removal of cultural heritage during colonial conquest.
Speaking at a UN high-level side event, the President said British forces destroyed Kumasi and looted the palace of the Asantehene during the military campaign. He said the episode formed part of a broader history in which African cultural treasures were removed from their communities and transported to museums and institutions in Europe and North America. President Mahama said Ghana’s experience was not unique, citing the looting of cultural heritage in Benin City, Ethiopia’s Maqdala and Abomey in present-day Benin.
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