Repatriation of Kenyan Human Remains from Cambridge University

Wɔatwerɛ nsɛm wei wɔ Asante Twi mu

Mfeɛ aduonu a atwam ni no, wɔakɔ so rebɔ mmɔden sɛ wɔbɛsan de tetefoɔ a wɔfiri Afrika no nnompe aba wɔn man no mu, berɛ a aban ahodoɔ, amammerɛ nnwuma, ne nnipa a wɔwɔ mpɔtam hɔ hwehwɛ sɛ wɔsan de nnoɔma a wɔawia anaa wɔagye wɔ ɔkwan a ɛmfata so afiri atɔeɛ fam tete nneɛma akorae ne suapɔn ahodoɔ mu no ma wɔn. Nsɛm a ɛho hia a ɛte saa no mu baako ne Kenyafoɔ a wɔsan de nnipa nnompe firii Cambridge Suapɔn mu no, a ɛkyerɛ wiase nyinaa akasakasa a ɛrekɔ so wɔ atɛntenenee, amammerɛ mu ayaresa, ne aborɔfo ani di akyiri.

Abakɔsɛm

Berɛ a na Britainfoɔ di Kenya so (1895 - 1963), anthropologists, colonial officials, ne nhwehwɛmufoɔ boaboaa nnipa a wɔaka no mu pii ano, a wɔn mu bi yɛ nnipa ti, nnompe, ne nnompe a aka nyinaa mpo, a na wɔyɛ no nyansahu mu nhwehwɛmu a wɔde ethnography, eugenics, ne mmusuakuw mu kyekyɛ mu^[1]. Wɔde saa nnompe yi kɔɔ mmeae bi te sɛ Duckworth Laboratory a ɛwɔ Cambridge Suapɔn mu no, mpɛn pii no na wonnya mpɔtam hɔfoɔ no adwene, na na eyi tia amammerɛ ne ayiyɛ ho amanne ahorow a ɛwɔ hɔ no.

Duckworth Laboratory a seesei abɛka Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies ho no kura nnipa nnompe a ɛboro 18,000 a wɔfiri wiase nyinaa, a emu bɛyɛ 30 yɛ tikɔnkora ne nnompe a ɛfiri Kenya, a wɔn mu pii yɛ Kikuyu, Luo, ne Nandifoɔ nkuroahodoɔ mu^[2].

Mmɔntoa a wɔbɔɔ sɛ wɔde nkurɔfoɔ bɛsane aba wɔn man mu

Wɔ afe 2022 mu no, wɔ amanaman ntam nhyɛso ne Kenya aban mpanyimfo ne ɔmanfo nkorabata a wɔtaa wɔn akyi akyi akyi no, Cambridge Sukuupɔn no penee so sɛ wɔbɛsan de nnipa nnompe bebree akɔ Kenya. National Museums of Kenya (NMK) na ɛdii anim na Kenya Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage nso boaa wɔn, na wɔkaa sɛ ɛsɛ sɛ wɔsan sie wɔn nananom sɛnea wɔn amammerɛ kyerɛ.

Na nnipa a British nnisoɔ no dii wɔn so kum wɔn wɔ wɔn akwantu mu anaa wɔn a wowuwui wɔ Mau Mau Agyinatu (1952 - 1960) mu no ka ho. Wɔn mu nipa titire bi ne Koitalel arap Samoei, Nandi atuatew no honhom mu kannifo, a na wogye di bere tenten sɛ n'atiboa no ka nnompe a na ɛwɔ Britain nnwumakuw mu no ho, ɛwom sɛ na wontumi nhye ho nhyehyeɛ nto mu^[3].

Abrabɔ ne mmara ho nsɛm

Kenyafoɔ nnompe a wɔasan de afiri Cambridge no nyɛ abakɔsɛm mu atɛntenenee ara kwa, na mmom ɛyɛ mmuaeɛ a wɔde ma abrabɔ gyinapɛn a ɛresesa wɔ tete nnoɔma akorae ne nwomasua mu no. Cambridge Suapɔn no mu nnipa nkae ho mmara no gye tom sɛ ɛsɛ sɛ wodi nnipa nkae ho dwuma wɔ ɔkwan a ɛfata so, na ɛboa ma wɔsan de ma bere a obi bisa ho asɛm wɔ ɔkwan a ɛfata so. Saa nhyehyɛeɛ yi ne UNESCO 1970 apam no ne UN Abakɔsɛm a ɛfa Aborɔfo fahodie ho no hyia, a wɔn baanu nyinaa hyɛ amammerɛ ne nananom agyapadeɛ a wɔde bɛsan aba no ho nkuran^[4]^[5]^[6].

Nea ɛho hia paa ne sɛ, Kenya mpanyimfo sii so dua sɛ saa nnompe yi a wɔde bɛsan aba no ma nkurɔfo nya nidi bio, wɔyɛ ɔsom mu amanne ahorow, na wonya wɔn ho fi basabasayɛ a ɛbaa wɔn so bere a na wɔyɛ wɔn nkoa no ho. Ɛsan nso kasa tia Eurocentric nsɛm a wɔde yɛɛ Afrikafo nipadua sɛ nneɛma a ɛsɛ sɛ wosua na ɛnyɛ sɛ nneɛma a ɛyɛ kronkron.

Afe 2022 fa wɔhyɛɛ wɔ wɔn a wɔbɛsane de wɔn aba wɔn man mu

Wɔ Ɛbɔ bosome no mu wɔ afe 2022 mu no, wɔhyɛɛ fa bi wɔ Cambridge Suapɔn mu de nnipa nnompe 32 kɔmaa Kenyafoɔ. Wɔ nhyiam no ase no, wɔyɛɛ komm, bɔɔ mpae sɛnea na wɔtaa yɛ no, na Kenya ne Britain mpanyimfo kasae. Akyiri yi wɔde nnompe no faa wimhyɛn kɔɔ Nairobi, baabi a wɔfii ase sɛ wɔbɛhwehwɛ wɔn mu na wɔasan de wɔn akɔto baabi foforo wɔ amammerɛ mu mpanyimfo ne Kenya Ɔman Nnwomadan no akwankyerɛ ase^[7].

Wɔkamfoo saa a wɔsan de wɔn baa wɔn man mu no sɛ ade titiriw bi, efisɛ na ɛyɛ Afrikafo nnompe a wɔasan de wɔn baa wɔn man mu a ɛsen biara a Britain nhomanimfo ahyehyɛde bi de maa wɔn no mu biako. Ɔmanpanyin Uhuru Kenyatta ne Ɔmanpanyin Amina Mohamed kamfoo mmara no sɛ ɛyɛ ade titiriw a ɛde asomdwoe ba.

Ɔhaw ahodoɔ a ɛkɔɔ so

Berɛ a na wɔrehyɛ nkae yi a wɔsan de bae no ho fa no, Kenya akyitaafoɔ ne nwomanimfoɔ ka sɛ aka pii wɔ Britain ne Europa mmeaeɛ afoforɔ. British Museum, Natural History Museum, ne Oxford Suapɔn no nso kura nnipa nnompe a efi Kenya. Nhyehyɛeɛ ahodoɔ yi mu pii de mmara mu ahokyere, baabi a efi a wonnim, anaa nyansahu mu nsɛm ho anigye kyerɛ sɛ nea enti a wɔtwentwɛn wɔn nan ase.

Kenya kɔ so rebɔ mmɔden sɛ wɔbɛma nnipa pii asan akɔ wɔn kurom, na wɔafi ase resesa nneɛma a wɔde asie no ho nsɛm ne DNA mu nhwehwɛmu a wɔde bɛhu wɔn nananom a wɔwoo wɔn^[8]. Bio nso, wɔrehyɛ nkuran kɛse sɛ wɔnyɛ nkae adan ne nnwumakuw a wɔhwɛ so ma Kenyafo hu amane ne wɔn a wɔsɔre tiaa nniso no.

Mmoano

Kenya nnipa a wɔasan de wɔn afi Cambridge Sukuupɔn mu aba no yɛ nkae, akasakasa, ne ayaresa ho ade kɛse. Ɛnyɛ awufo nkutoo na ɛma wɔn ho dwo wɔn, na mmom ɛma ateasefo nso tumi ma wonya wɔn abakɔsɛm ne wɔn amammerɛ mu agyiraehyɛde. Bere a Kenya da so rehwehwɛ sɛ wɔde nneɛma bɛsan ama no no, saa asɛm yi kyerɛ bere foforo a abrabɔ ho asɛyɛde, nhomasua ho ahobrɛase, ne amammerɛ ntam atɛntrenee bɛba.

Mmeaeɛ a menyaa mmoa firiiɛ

↑ Abena Dove Osseo-Asare (2019-09-12), Atomic Junction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-108-55795-5, retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ BBC News – Africa ✓, retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ Gabrielle Lynch (2011-12-08), "Samoei, Koitalel arap", African American Studies Center, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1, retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ "Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property", Collections Management, Routledge, pp. 99–106, 2005-07-25, ISBN 978-0-203-97439-1, retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ "The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Hart Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84113-878-7, retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), retrieved 2025-07-03
↑ "2. The Recontextualisation of Human Remains in Colonial East Africa – The Human Remains from Rwanda in the Colonial Era", Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa, Köln: Böhlau Verlag, pp. 25–46, 2022-08-08, ISBN 978-3-412-52344-2, retrieved 2025-07-04
↑ Edward Halealoha Ayau, Cressida Fforde, Alan Goodman, Gareth Knapman (2023-11-21), "The Return of Ancestral Hawaiian Remains Housed at the Duckworth Laboratory, the University of Cambridge", Repatriation, Science and Identity, London: Routledge, pp. 102–126, ISBN 978-1-003-14495-3, retrieved 2025-07-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1] Abena Dove Osseo-Asare (2019-09-12), Atomic Junction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-108-55795-5, retrieved 2025-07-03

[2] BBC News – Africa ✓, retrieved 2025-07-03

[3] Gabrielle Lynch (2011-12-08), "Samoei, Koitalel arap", African American Studies Center, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1, retrieved 2025-07-03

[4] "Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property", Collections Management, Routledge, pp. 99–106, 2005-07-25, ISBN 978-0-203-97439-1, retrieved 2025-07-03

[5] "The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples", Reflections on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Hart Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84113-878-7, retrieved 2025-07-03

[6] United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD), retrieved 2025-07-03

[7] "2. The Recontextualisation of Human Remains in Colonial East Africa – The Human Remains from Rwanda in the Colonial Era", Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa, Köln: Böhlau Verlag, pp. 25–46, 2022-08-08, ISBN 978-3-412-52344-2, retrieved 2025-07-04

[8] Edward Halealoha Ayau, Cressida Fforde, Alan Goodman, Gareth Knapman (2023-11-21), "The Return of Ancestral Hawaiian Remains Housed at the Duckworth Laboratory, the University of Cambridge", Repatriation, Science and Identity, London: Routledge, pp. 102–126, ISBN 978-1-003-14495-3, retrieved 2025-07-04{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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