Advocacy
African Voices Archive
Mobutu Sese Seko
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Onyekachi Wambu
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Kodzo Gavua is an archaeologist and ethnographer who holds a PhD and a Master of Arts degrees from the University of Calgary, Canada. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Archaeology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana. Kodzo serves as an Associate Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, and researches the effects of cross-cultural interactions on Africa’s cultural heritage and economic development. He engages in public archaeology, anthropology of tourism, economic anthropology, art history, material culture studies, and museum studies. Gavua established and coordinates the A.G. Leventis Digital Resource Centre for African Culture at the University of Ghana.
Affiliation(s): University of Ghana - Legon, Ghana Focal Team on Restitution and Reparation
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The late Prince Folarin Shyllon (23 July 1940 - 13 January 2021) is the most prolific thinker and writer on restitution matters from the continent, dedicating much of his professional life to international work on the matter. He was the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan. His dedication to the promotion of the protection of cultural heritage and its return to countries of origin was embodied in his tireless work in regional and international organizations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization acknowledged his unflinching contribution to its work for decades and the progressive development of international cultural heritage law.
Affiliation(s): University of Ibadan
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Published Work: Legislative and Administrative Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention by African States: The Failure to Grasp the Nettle
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In the 1970s, the pressure on African nations grew, with the Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko making the first international request at the UN General Assembly in 1973 – which soon after tabled a resolution on heritage restitution.
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Onyekachi Wambu is a former newspaper editor and television producer for the BBC and PBS. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director at AFFORD, a charity focused on enhancing the contributions of the African diaspora to Africa's development. His leadership at AFFORD has played a pivotal role in advocating for diaspora engagement in development, resulting in UK and international recognition and the initiation of policies and programs by global institutions. Since 1990, he has been a prominent figure in addressing African cultural heritage issues, particularly related to slavery and colonialism, making high-level presentations to the United Nations and African Union. Onyekachi is an alumnus of the University of Essex and Selwyn College, Cambridge, with extensive publications on Africa and its global diaspora.
Affiliation(s): Africa Foundation for Development (AFFORD)
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Dr Frezer Getachew Haile is an experienced communications strategist and foreign policy expert with a decade of experience advising public sector and international organisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. Dr Haile is currently a strategic adviser at Panterra, a boutique consultancy firm, helping clients navigate complicated, transnational challenges of a political nature, involving policyissues, litigation, investments, elections or major crises. Prior to this, he served as a senior advisor at the Ethiopian Embassy in London, during which time he was responsible for the Ethiopian Government’s work on restitution in the UK and led its negotiations with a variety of UK cultural institutions, including the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and British Library, amongst others. He regularly speaks publicly on issues of heritage and restitution and holds a doctorate in politics and geography from King’s College London.
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Don Deya is a highly accomplished legal expert and leader. As CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), he chairs various executive committees, including the Pan African Citizens’ Network (PACIN), the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP), and the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC). With a wealth of experience, he actively participates in regional and international legal matters, including litigation at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) and the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). His advocacy extends to numerous African and international organizations, such as the African Union, African Development Bank, and the United Nations
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Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant (17 February 1944 – 8 April 2000) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Tottenham, London, from 1987 to his death in 2000. In 1993 Grant co-founded and chaired the African Reparations Movement (ARM UK) to campaign for the movement for reparations for slavery and racism. ARM UK was formed following the 1993 Abuja Proclamation declared at the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations, in Abuja, Nigeria, convened by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Nigerian government. Grant's approach to reparations included demands for the return of looted African cultural heritage (such as the Benin Bronzes) and that the British government should financially support those who wanted to return to their country of origin.
Affiliation(s): African Repatriations Movement UK
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Published Work: The archives of Bernie Grant’s restitution campaign, developed in advance of 1997 as the centenary year of the British sacking and looting of Benin City, are held at London’s Bishopsgate Institute, Benin Bronzes Campaign Files BG/ARM/4. 1994–2000.
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Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow (20 March 1921 - 24 September 2024) was elected as the first-ever African director general of UNESCO in 1974. In 1978, he made a now-famous speech denouncing the lack of movement on heritage restitution and making a passionate appeal for the return of artefacts and human remains.
Affiliation(s): UNESCO
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Published Work: A Plea for the return of an irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it: an appeal by Mr. Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, Director-General of UNESCO
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Chao Tayiana Maina is a Kenyan historian and digital heritage specialist with a unique expertise at the intersection of memory, digital humanities, and public education. Leveraging a background in computing and a specialisation in heritage studies, her work is dedicated to exploring and excavating African histories, while simultaneously building and enhancing the infrastructure needed for the preservation and dissemination of these vital pasts. She is founder of African Digital Heritage, co-founder of the Museum of British Colonialism, and co-founder of the Open Restitution Africa project. She is a fellow at Yale University’s Institute of Cultural Heritage Preservation and was selected as a public historian in residence at the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Contemporary and Digital History.
Affiliation(s): African Digital Heritage Open Restitution Africa
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Published Work: Where is the Seeker Who Searches for Another? Decolonial Approaches to Digital Public History
Dr Frezer Getachew Haile is an experienced communications strategist and foreign policy expert with a decade of experience advising public sector and international organisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. Dr Haile is currently a strategic adviser at Panterra, a boutique consultancy firm, helping clients navigate complicated, transnational challenges of a political nature, involving policyissues, litigation, investments, elections or major crises. Prior to this, he served as a senior advisor at the Ethiopian Embassy in London, during which time he was responsible for the Ethiopian Government’s work on restitution in the UK and led its negotiations with a variety of UK cultural institutions, including the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and British Library, amongst others. He regularly speaks publicly on issues of heritage and restitution and holds a doctorate in politics and geography from King’s College London.