By Boris Esono Nwenfor
More than 125 years after German colonial agents removed sacred sculptures from the Bangwa people of Cameroon, a fresh campaign to recover one of the community’s most treasured cultural possessions is gathering momentum, with the traditional ruler of Foreke-Chacha calling on Germany to take responsibility for its colonial past and help secure the return of the celebrated Bangwa Queen.
In a formal petition dated September 16, 2026, addressed to Germany’s Federal Foreign Office in Berlin and copied to Cameroonian and German diplomatic authorities, Cape Town-based law firm A Fotoh & Associates Inc., acting on behalf of His Royal Majesty Fon Foreke Asongtia II, urged the German government to engage France through diplomatic channels to facilitate the restitution of the sacred sculpture.
The petition places renewed attention on one of the enduring controversies surrounding African cultural heritage: the continued possession of sacred objects removed during colonial rule, many of which have passed through European museums, private collections and international auction houses while their communities of origin remain deprived of them.
For the people of Foreke-Chacha in Cameroon’s South-West Region, the Bangwa Queen is far more than a valuable piece of African art. It is a sacred symbol of fertility, spirituality, cultural identity and ancestral continuity, whose removal, according to the petition, inflicted profound damage on the community’s traditional life.
The lawyers trace the sculpture’s removal to the period of German colonial expansion in Cameroon, which began in 1884 and encountered resistance from the Bangwa people. Following the defeat of the Foreke-Chacha community, German colonial agents allegedly seized several sacred sculptures and transported them to Germany.
Among the most significant were the Bangwa King and Bangwa Queen, which the petition identifies as having been taken around 1899 by German colonial agent Gustav Conrau. The sculptures subsequently entered European museum collections before eventually finding their way into the international art market.
The Bangwa Queen’s journey illustrates the complex history of African cultural objects removed during colonial rule. According to the petition, the sculpture was transferred to Berlin’s Museum für Völkerkunde before entering the art market, where American collector Harry A. Franklin acquired it in 1966. In 1990, the Dapper Foundation reportedly purchased it at a Sotheby’s auction for approximately $3.4 million.
The sculpture was later exhibited at the Musée Dapper in Paris, a privately funded institution established by the foundation, which closed its permanent museum premises in 2017.
Its present circumstances have become a major concern for the traditional authorities of Foreke-Chacha, who fear that another sale could place the sculpture beyond their reach.
The petition warns that the community remains concerned that the Dapper Foundation could auction the sculpture, potentially allowing it to disappear into a private collection. The document does not establish that such a sale has been scheduled.
The fate of the Bangwa King has only deepened those fears. According to the lawyers, the sculpture was sold at Christie’s Paris on June 23, 2021, for €150,000 from the private collection of Pierre Harter and Michel Périnet. Its present whereabouts, the petition states, are unknown to the traditional ruler.
Beyond the two celebrated sculptures, the petition highlights the substantial number of Bangwa cultural objects held in German institutions, citing research by A. Meyer and B. Savoy in 2023. It identifies approximately 250 objects in Brunswick, around 100 each in Berlin and Stuttgart, and additional collections in Leipzig, Mannheim, Hamburg, Munich, Bremen, Dresden and several other German cities.
The scale of these collections raises broader questions about how many objects of spiritual and historical importance remain separated from their original communities and what responsibility former colonial powers bear for facilitating their return.
For Fon Foreke Asongtia II and his people, however, the immediate priority is the Bangwa Queen.
In explaining the significance of the sculpture, the petition states that its removal has caused “profound and ongoing loss” to the Foreke-Chacha community, describing the Bangwa Queen as a deity associated with fertility whose absence has affected the material, cultural and spiritual lives of the people.
The traditional ruler’s legal representatives argue that Germany cannot distance itself from the circumstances surrounding the sculpture’s removal simply because it subsequently entered collections and markets outside German territory.
They are calling on Berlin to acknowledge the historical circumstances and use its diplomatic influence to help reverse the consequences of colonial dispossession.
“Given the above history—specifically that the sculpture’s removal is directly linked to German colonial annexation and the actions of a German colonial agent—we request that the Government of Germany accepts responsibility,” the petition states.
It further calls on Germany to actively assist the people of Foreke-Chacha in recovering their sacred sculptures, specifically by engaging the French government to facilitate the Bangwa Queen’s return from the Dapper Foundation in Paris.
The letter was also directed to Cameroon’s Minister of Arts and Culture, in his capacity as chairman of the interministerial committee responsible for the repatriation of Cameroonian artifacts removed during the colonial period, as well as German diplomatic missions in Cape Town and Yaoundé.
The involvement of these institutions underscores the diplomatic dimensions of the campaign, which could require cooperation among Cameroon, Germany, France, the sculpture’s custodians and the traditional authorities seeking its return.
The petition also invokes French President Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to African heritage restitution, arguing that the changing political climate in Europe provides an opportunity to resolve longstanding disputes over objects removed during colonial rule.
Across Africa, demands for restitution have increasingly moved beyond museums and academic debates into diplomatic negotiations, with governments and traditional communities challenging the circumstances under which important cultural treasures were acquired and subsequently retained abroad.
Cameroon’s experience is particularly significant given the extensive removal of cultural objects during German colonial rule and the continued presence of many of those objects in European collections.
For the Foreke-Chacha community, the recovery of the Bangwa Queen would represent more than the return of a valuable historical artifact. It would be an opportunity to reconnect generations with a sacred symbol that once occupied an important place in the community’s spiritual and cultural traditions.
The legal campaign also raises a fundamental question about the treatment of African sacred objects in the international art market, where their commercial value can overshadow their meaning to the communities from which they originated.
A sculpture purchased for millions of dollars may be celebrated as a masterpiece in a European collection, but for the descendants of those who once revered it, its significance cannot be measured by an auction price.
A Fotoh & Associates has requested written confirmation within a reasonable period outlining the steps Germany intends to take to facilitate the sculpture’s return. The September 16 petition does not establish whether Germany, France or the Dapper Foundation has formally responded, leaving the outcome of the initiative uncertain.
As the campaign unfolds, the people of Foreke-Chacha are seeking to recover not simply a masterpiece of African sculpture, but a sacred part of their history that has spent more than a century far from home. For Germany and France, the case presents another test of whether growing commitments to the restitution of African heritage can translate into meaningful action, while for Fon Foreke Asongtia II and his community, the objective remains unmistakable: to see the Bangwa Queen returned to the people whose ancestors created and revered it.
At the forefront of the latest restitution campaign is A Fotoh & Associates Inc., a Cape Town-based law firm led by Cameroonian-born attorney Alexander A. Fotoh. With legal expertise rooted in Cameroon and South Africa, the firm is bringing its experience to bear on a cause that extends beyond the recovery of a single sculpture. Its intervention on behalf of Fon Foreke Asongtia II highlights the growing role of African legal professionals in confronting unresolved questions of colonial dispossession, cultural heritage and historical justice. The Bangwa Queen case also demonstrates how legal advocacy and diplomatic engagement can offer African communities a pathway to reclaiming treasured symbols of their identity, dignity and ancestral heritage.