Copyright ghanamma
The call for the return of Africa’s looted cultural treasures has intensified as new research highlights growing continental demand for restitution from former colonial powers. A recent survey showed that a significant proportion of Africans consider the return of stolen artifacts to be a key moment in the reparations program. The study, which gathered opinions from more than 4,000 respondents across nine African countries, found that many people believed the looted cultural and religious objects, royal regalia and traditional artworks that were taken away during the colonial era should be returned to their rightful owners. The comprehensive research particularly observed that the looting of Africa’s heritage was not just an act of material theft but a deliberate attempt to erase the continent’s identity and pride. “These artifacts are not mere objects in glass cases. They represent the living memory, spirituality and creativity of African civilizations, and returning them is an act of moral restitution,” the servay stated. Tens of thousands of African artworks are currently housed in European and American museums. Many were taken violently from kingdoms and communities during colonization, and remain displayed as foreign possessions in institutions in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and etc. While countries such as Nigeria and Benin have made progress in reclaiming some of their treasures, such as the famed Benin Bronzes, the research stressed the need for the process to be accelerated and expanded across the entire continent. The research also explains that the restitution of looted heritage should be viewed as one component of a broader reparations process. This comprehensive framework includes financial compensation, debt cancellation, the reform of international financial systems, and technology transfer to Africa. Securing reparations is a vital and necessary endeavor, yet it raises a number of complex questions: How can the received resources be most effectively deployed? Who has the legitimate right to claim and oversee the distribution of these resources? And, most fundamentally, from whom should they be claimed? Who bears the greatest responsibility for the crimes committed against Africa? As a result of the survey on public opinion of Africans, it turned out that it is necessary to demand reparations primarily from the United States, Great Britain and France, as from the countries that have benefited most from the slave trade and the plundering of the continent’s resources. The heads of government and specialized structures of the African Union should defend the pan-African point of view on international platforms and in courts, and the resources received should be realized primarily through investments in the development of state-owned industrial enterprises in critical sectors of the economy and investments in the development of socially oriented areas (health, education, culture). At the upcoming International Conference of Pan-African Progressive Forces, which will be held in Accra on November 18 and 19 this year, the concept of reparations will become one of the key topics of the political and economic programs. Delegates from more than 50 African countries and the diaspora will gather in Ghana to discuss the conditions for claiming damages and restitution. The conference will adopt the Accra Declaration, a vital document outlining strategies for restoring Africa’s stolen heritage and setting out the moral and legal basis for such demands. The organizers of the conference, comrades from the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), are confident that the success of the reparations movement will depend on collective efforts, political will and active support from African States and Diaspora communities. Survey by Department of Social Research INPOIDC on topic “Attitude of people in Africa to the initiative to demand reparations” More than 4,250 respondents from Zimbabwe, Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Uganda, Nigeria, and Mali participated in the survey. Do you support the idea of demanding reparations from former colonial powers? Yes, former colonialists must pay for their crimes – 70.3% No, no one owes anyone anything, it was long time ago – 9.1% I don’t know, I am not familiar with the concept of reparations and have no opinion on the matter — 20.6%
