Museum Objects Return to Uganda From Britain

KAMPALA, UGANDA—According to an Associated Press report, the University of Cambridge handed over 39 artifacts to Uganda, although the items will remain the property of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge for now. Curator Mark Elliott said the initial loan will last for a period of three years. Jackline Nyiracyiza, Uganda’s government Commissioner in Charge of Museums and Monuments, added that the loan agreement is renewable with the possibility of a permanent loan or local ownership. Curators from Uganda selected the 39 objects from a collection of 1,500 items acquired by the University of Cambridge from private collections. Many of the artifacts came from an Anglican missionary who was active in Uganda from the 1890s and into the early twentieth century, when the country was a British protectorate. Uganda gained its independence in 1962. “Sixty years have passed,” Nyiracyiza said. “We are working now with the Cambridge team to … see that we talk to other museums and be able to repatriate others maybe next year or within the near future,” she added. The artifacts are expected to go on display at the Uganda Museum next year. To read about excavations on the site of a palace in Nigeria's Benin City, go to "Letter from Nigeria: A West African Kingdom's Roots."