The government is making provision in the 2027 Budget for the establishment of a modern museum to receive and preserve cultural artefacts being returned to Ghana from different countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has disclosed.

The proposed facility is expected to provide a suitable home for thousands of artefacts that Ghana anticipates receiving through ongoing restitution and repatriation efforts.

The government also believes the museum could become an important tourism and economic asset by attracting visitors interested in Ghanaian history and culture.

Mr Ablakwa said the facility would create economic opportunities both during its construction and after completion, while allowing returned artefacts to be displayed in a manner that promotes Ghana’s history and heritage.

He cited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park as an example of a cultural site that attracts visitors and said a modern museum could similarly contribute to tourism.

Speaking to journalists on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Ablakwa said Ghana needed to prepare adequately for the return of artefacts from countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and France.

He said the government was therefore working on both the infrastructure and a policy framework to ensure the returned items were properly preserved and managed.

The Minister also disclosed plans for a special museum dedicated to the preserved head of King Badu Bonsu II, the Ahanta king who was beheaded by the Dutch after resisting their authority. He said the memorial would help tell a fuller account of African resistance to colonial domination and the transatlantic slave trade.

“King Badu Bonsu II’s head will serve as an eternal memorial to the fact that there was resistance. We fought back, and our chiefs even paid the ultimate price,” Mr Ablakwa said.

He argued that preserving and presenting such historical evidence would help challenge narratives suggesting that Africans did not resist enslavement and colonial domination, while providing future generations with a stronger connection to the country’s history.