Cote D’Ivoire’s Djidji Ayôkwé talking drum which was seized by French troops is finally set to return to the West African nation.
The drum was seized from the Ebrié people in Cote D’Ivoire in 1916.
But French lawmakers have unanimously passed a legislation that is paving the way for the return of the Djidji Ayôkwé talking drum to Côte d’Ivoire after over a century.
The three-metre-long, 430-kilogram drum, once used by the Atchan to send messages across villages, was taken after locals refused to join forced road construction.
Exhibited in Paris since 1922, it remained in the Quai Branly Museum awaiting restitution.
France’s law on public collections required a legal exemption before the drum could be returned. President Macron promised restitution in 2021, but there has been no comprehensive legal framework, so restitution has lagged.
Maurice Kouakou Bandaman, Ivorian ambassador to France, welcomed the unanimous vote “with lawmakers recognising the full value of this artefact, the wrong that was done to Côte d’Ivoire, to the Bidjan people, to the Tchaman (Ebrié) people, through this theft”.
Source: Africa Publicity
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