Kaya elders protest taxation of stolen artefacts

Kaya elders from Rabai sub county in Kilifi county attending a meeting with kilifi county governor Amason Kingi when they visited him at his office on Tuesday. The kaya elders led by their spokesman Mr. Baya Mitsanze revealed to the governor that Mombasa county was plotting to carve part of Rabai sub county region to Mombasa and wanted him to intervene and save the area. [PHOTO/JOSEPH MASHA/STANDARD]

Mijikenda Kaya elders are alarmed by the new Government requirement to pay taxes for repatriation of cultural artifacts from the US.

Wooden memorial plagues which belonged to the Mijikenda ancestors, locally known as vigango, were stolen several years back and sold to tourists but the US is arranging for their return since they are sacred to the community.