Stolen treasures stuck in the US after State imposed hefty tax

The repatriation of treasured Mijikenda cultural artefacts, locally known as vigango, from the US has stalled after the Government imposed a heavy tax on them.

Vigango, which are held in awe and esteem, are wooden artefacts considered sacred representation of reincarnated spirits among the Miji Kenda.

They are normally planted on graves of respected ancestors.

In the past, they were stolen and sold to Western tourists and collectors, who in turn sold them to museums and galleries in the US.

Following an uproar from Coast leaders and elders, the museums and galleries began to surrender them to the community but the process of repatriation has not been smooth.

This has emerged even as Mijikenda Kaya elders urged the Government to expedite their return.

On Friday, the National Museum of Kenya (NMK) said a consignment of 50 pieces of vigango has been lying at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi since January last year after State imposed a Sh5 million-taxation under a new requirement.

The shipment was made by California State University through the collaboration of the NMK and the US ambassador in the new campaign to return the vigango to the original families at the Kenyan Coast.

Director of Museums, Sites and Monuments Purity Kiura said the artefacts only have cultural value and questioned the rationale of imposing such a heavy tax.

"Culture and heritage are the basis of any nation so we do not understand why tax should be imposed on such items. Advanced nations like China and South Korea place high cultural value on such items," Dr Kiura argued.

She appealed to governors in coastal counties to intervene and see whether they could secure the vigango abandoned at the airport.

 CULTURAL VALUE

"There is danger of paralysing the campaign of returning home the artefacts from the US unless the issue of taxation is resolved," warned the official.

In the US, Joseph Nevadomsky from the department of Anthropology, California State University, has written to the spokesman of Kaya elders Baya Mitsanze inquiring if the artefacts have been received.

"We have had no feedback on that shipment. For us to close the books on this project, we must know the present location of the treasure," reads part of Prof Nevadomsky's letter.

He noted that so far, more than 240 vigangos have been repatriated from the US, including those of the Kalume Mwakiru family in Kilifi County.

The artefacts are carved wooden statues between three and nine feet-tall, depicting abstract human faces and are erected as memorials to revered elders by members of the Gohu society. They believe Vigango would bring them luck and prosperity.