Gender Cabinet Secretary nominee Stella Lang'at has pledged to ensure all the stolen Kenyan treasures are returned to the country if appointed.
Lang'at pointed out that museums and national monuments are a top priority for the Kenya Kwanza government hence the need to preserve it.
"All the artifacts that were taken from this country will be returned to the National Museum,” she said.
According to Lang'at, plans are already underway to strengthen museums' role in advocating for its return.
It is estimated that there are over 30,000 Kenyan treasures in museums outside the country believed to have either been stolen or purchased by the whites as they colonised East Africa.
They include headdresses, war shields, masks, and sculptures among many others from various local communities in the country.
In 2021, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) launched the "Invisible Inventories" exhibition in Nairobi, featuring empty showcases to symbolise stolen artifacts.
This effort is part of the International Inventories Programme, a research project in collaboration with the German social enterprise Shift, aimed at cataloging Kenyan artifacts held abroad.
The project seeks to identify these items in institutions across Germany, the UK, and the US, with the goal of repatriating them.
Weltkulturen Museum in Germany, for example, is reportedly housing around 870 Kenyan objects.
Some eight of them are said to be items which include Ndoome shield- a wooden, leaf-shaped shield crafted by Kikuyu artisans.
While Europeans consider it a war tool, Kikuyus maintain this is used as a dancing accessory during circumcision rites.
Several governments across the world have been reluctant to return these artifacts with ex-British Prime Minister David Cameron once quoted by Quartz arguing that agreeing to one restitution could leave the British Museum nearly empty.
Some two years ago, however, the UK restituted Ethiopia of its Maqdala treasures and Benin Kingdom of one of its bronzes.
When she appeared for vetting, Langat at the same time disclosed that President William Ruto has been invited to present Kenya's rich heritage and culture at an annual German event.
"This will be a great opportunity to brand our country, to sell our rich heritage and expose what we have; our food, our culture, our language and our artifacts," she stated.
