Algeria

Algeria joined the Convention on 24 June 1974. It enacted Ordinance 67-281 in 1967 on the Protection of Sites, Historical and Natural Monuments. Decree 87-10 of January 1987 sets up the National Agency of Archaeology and the Protection of Sites and Monuments, while Decree 858-279 of November 1985 establishes the National Museums for Antiquities. These laws, however, neither prohibit nor control the import of cultural objects into the country. According to Ridha Fraoua,^{Footnote 6} Algeria has established a specialized service to prevent and combat trafficking. It is known as the Sub-Directorate for Cultural Property Security, and it forms part of the Directorate for the Legal Protection of Cultural Property. Algeria also has a central squad for the protection of national cultural heritage, attached to the National Security Directorate. This squad is responsible, in particular, for operational investigations into various acts against the national cultural heritage: the theft of and trafficking in archaeological objects, antiquities, and works of art; damage to and looting of archaeological sites; and artistic forgeries. It directs investigations conducted by other judicial police departments and formulates strategies to combat trafficking in cultural property. It acts in close cooperation with the Division for the Protection of Cultural Property, the Cultural Property Management and Exploitation Office, the National Archaeology Centre, and museum curators. The national gendarmerie, too, has established heritage inspection units. Algeria has signed a specific agreement, bilateral treaty to protect cultural heritage against trafficking, with Argentina for the reciprocal protection of cultural property in the event of trafficking and is considering concluding two similar bilateral agreements with China and Peru.

Cote d’Ivoire

Cote d’Ivoire joined the Convention in 1990. The Law of 28 July 1987 relative to the protection of Ivorian cultural heritage provides in Article 37 that all archaeological projects are subject to authorization from the government. In Article 38 it is provided that the author of any discovery, fortuitous or not, resulting notably from officially authorized excavations or from public or private works, must declare the discovery to the Ministries of Cultural Affairs and Mines. The author of any discovery is personally and financially responsible for the safekeeping of the antiquities, which can in no event be sold, transferred, or distributed before the government decides upon their permanent status.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Article 34 of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) law concerning the protection of cultural property of 1971 has a unique provision attempting to deter illegal export. It provides that no person living abroad who habitually or occasionally purchases objects of antiquity for resale may collect in the DRC such objects of DRC’s origin whether they are classified or not. Moreover, the same prohibition applies to any person acting as agent for some other person even if he or she resides in the DRC.

Egypt

Egypt became a member of the 1970 Convention on 5 April 1973. In 1983 the country promulgated what can be called its implementation act with the enactment of the pivotal Antiquities’ Protection Law No. 117 of 1983, as amended by Law No. 3 of 2010 Promulgating the Antiquities’ Protection Law. According to Article 1, the term antiquity is any movable or immovable object that is a product of the various civilizations that span the entire Egyptian history reflecting the arts, sciences, humanities, and religions of the successive historical periods and that is more than 100 years old. Article 6 declares that all antiquities are strictly regulated and considered to be the property of the state. Article 7 prohibits trade in antiquities, while Article 8 proscribes possession of antiquities. The only exceptions are antiquities whose ownership or possession was already established at the time the law came into operation. In such a situation an individual in possession of antiquities shall notify the Egyptian Antiquity Authority of the antiquity in his possession within six months of the law coming into operation and shall safeguard it until it is registered by the authority. Anyone who fails to declare an antiquity in his or her possession within the stipulated time shall be deemed to be an unlawful possessor. Inventories of antiquities in sites and museums are accomplished by two centers of documentation, for Egyptian antiquities and for Islamic and Coptic antiquities through the information center of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Inventories are done by electronic database systems.

Article 9 permits a possessor of antiquity to dispose of it provided he or she obtains prior written approval and provided the disposition does not result in exporting it. In all cases the authority shall have the right of preemption, in return for fair compensation. Egypt has an antiquities police squad or police of antiquities dedicated exclusively to combating trafficking in cultural property, and it is supported by the central police authorities.

All archaeological material, ancient art, and artifacts of any kind that are discovered or found within the republic of Egypt are regulated cultural property. Export restrictions are in place and enforced at all Egyptian airports, ports, and border crossings. Any person who unlawfully smuggles an antiquity outside Egypt or participates in such an act shall be liable to a prison term with hard labor and a fine. Under Article 24, anyone who fortuitously discovers a movable antiquity must notify the nearest administrative authority within 48 hours and safeguard it until the Egyptian Antiquities Authority takes possession of it. Failure to comply is deemed as unauthorized possession. Article 15 declares that no prescriptive ownership of antiquities shall accrue to any individual or corporate entity by adverse possession from the use of an archaeological site, land, or structure of historic value.

Through Law 117 and the vigorous application of it Egypt has been able to secure the return of thousands of antiquities smuggled out of the country.

Article 35 provides that all antiquities discovered by foreign archaeological missions are state-owned property. However, the Supreme Council of Antiquities can decide to reward those missions that do particularly remarkable work in excavation and restoration by offering some of the movable antiquities recovered by the mission to a museum that the council indicates so that they are displayed there on its behalf. This can occur if there are similar items recovered from the same excavations that have been studied and classified. Article 36 confers “all rights of intellectual property and trademark” exploitation on the Supreme Council of Antiquities including “archaeological objects and sites owned by the Council.” The idea is to impose intellectual property rights control on key Egyptian images and monuments, such as the pyramids.

Egypt has signed several bilateral agreements to protect its cultural heritage against trafficking, notably with Italy, Greece, and Denmark, and is currently negotiating a major agreement with the United States.

Madagascar

Madagascar became a member of the Convention in 1989. Article 25 of the Legislation/Decree 82-029 of 6 November 1982 on the Protection, Safeguarding and Conservation of the National Heritage prohibits the export of antiquities. Article 39 stipulates that archaeological excavations cannot be undertaken without the authorization of the minister concerned, and Article 42 provides that the state has the right to ownership of all property discovered during excavations and as a result of research. Article 45 states that the finder of cultural objects as a result of excavation is obliged to notify the local authorities within three days following such a discovery. Article 49 stipulates that any national heritage property acquired in breach of the order will be confiscated by the state. Finally, Article 56 provides that anyone who destroys, damages, mutilates, or knocks down classified or registered cultural property will be sentenced to a period of imprisonment ranging from one month to two years, and to a fine.

Mali

Under the leadership of Alpha Oumar Konare, Mali has a proactive legislative and management policy for the protection of Mali’s cultural heritage. Konare was head of the national historic and ethnographic heritage division from 1976 to 1978, Minister of Culture from 1978 to 1980. From 1989 to 1992 he was the president of the International Council of Museums. In 1992 he was elected president of Mali and served two terms, stepping down in 2002. Under his leadership, a legal framework was set up allowing for an effective campaign against looting and trafficking. Starting in 1985 a series of laws were passed, and in 1987 Mali ratified the 1970 Convention. On 26 July 1985 Law No. 85-40 concerning the protection and promotion of the national cultural heritage was passed. This was followed on 4 November 1985 by the enactment of Decree 275 regulating archaeological excavations. Under Article 11 of this decree, all objects of a movable or fixed nature discovered in the course of excavations performed on or in the soil of the public domain are the property of the state. On 26 July 1986 Law 86-61, controlling traders in cultural objects, was promulgated; thus Mali followed France as one of the few countries controlling the activities of dealers in items of cultural heritage. Another decree was promulgated on 19 September 1986 (Decree No. 999), regulating the excavation and marketing of cultural objects. Finally, in the framework of the 1970 Convention, Mali and the United States signed an agreement in 1997 restricting the import of the Niger Valley’s archaeological heritage and items from the tellem caves of Bandiagara.^{Footnote 7} Mali is the only African country that has taken advantage of the U.S. scheme.

Mauritania

Mauritania became a member of the 1970 Convention on 27 April 1977. Earlier, on 31 July 1972, Mauritania promulgated the law relating to the Preservation and Cultural Promotion of the National Prehistorical, Historical and Archaeological Heritage. Article 1 provides that the following are considered as state property: all movable and immovable property of national interest from the viewpoint of prehistory, pre-Muslim history, Muslim history, philosophy, or art and archaeology, existing on and in the ground of real property belonging to the public or private domains of the state, of local authorities, or of public establishments, regardless of whether the said property has been subject to any kind of concession. Such movable and immovable property is imprescriptible, and can be neither disposed of nor destroyed without authorization from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. By virtue of Article 2, private individuals in ownership and possession of cultural antiquities remain undisturbed in their ownership and possession thereof; the state, however, reserves the right to establish servitudes over them on the ground of public interest, including the right of authorities to carry out investigations, visiting rights of the public, and obligatory upkeep. In the latter case, state aid would be available in the case of large-scale repair work and/or restoration. The exportation of antiquities is forbidden. Article 17 makes provisions for rescue archaeology. According to Ridah Fraoua,^{Footnote 8} Mauritania’s regulations governing the import of cultural objects are distinguished by particular rules that are found occasionally in other legislation of the Arab states and that implement the provisions of the 1954 and 1970 Conventions. Under the 2005 law for the protection of the tangible heritage, imported cultural objects must be declared to customs officers. A receipt must be issued to the possessor by the customs authorities. The receipt constitutes proof in the event of re-export. Illegally imported cultural objects are seized and placed under the protection of the state; on condition of reciprocity, they are returned to their countries of origin in accordance with international agreement. The requesting state must bear the cost of restitution. The export and transfer of ownership of cultural objects originating from a country occupied by a foreign power are considered to be illegal.

Nigeria

Following the dispersal of the Ife bronze heads, the colonial government hurriedly made an order in council to control the export of antiquities. The 1938 order was replaced by another order in council in 1943, and finally by the 1953 Antiquities Act. A supplemental law, the Antiquities (Prohibited Transfers) Act was enacted in 1974. The current legislation is the National Commission for Museums and Monuments Act of 1979. The act abolished the Antiquities Commission and the Federal Department of Antiquities set up under the 1953 Act as the agencies of the federal government responsible for the protection and conservation of Nigeria’s cultural heritage property. A new commission, the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, was established with responsibility for the conservation, preservation, and restoration of the nation’s historical, cultural, artistic, and scientific relics. The commission is authorized to declare as monuments any antiquity it considers as needing protection or preservation in the national interest. The declaration of an antiquity as a monument must be gazetted. When an antiquity has been declared a national monument, the owner shall be entitled to compensation. The merit of the act is in strengthening the offence provisions for unauthorized dealing in cultural objects and trafficking in them. However, the act makes no provisions compelling archaeological survey and rescue excavations on land for development projects unless the area has been adjudged to contain items of importance to the cultural heritage of the country. The combined effects of Sections 19 and 20 of the act is that there is no restriction on any individual, company, or group from developing their land and doing away with its contents in the manner they think fit. As a result, Nigerian cultural heritage undiscovered by archaeological survey is now under constant threat of permanent destruction by roads, housing, water irrigation, and mineral prospection projects. The report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Looting of Nigerian Cultural Properties in 1996 recommended, among others, various amendments to the 1979 Act, but so far they have not been carried out. Unlike the repealed 1953 Antiquities Act, which gave a prominent role to local government authorities in cultural heritage management and granted them the power to make bylaws and regulations with regard to cultural property in their area of jurisdiction, the 1979 Act does not involve the local government. This is hardly in accord with the latest thinking, namely, that for the proper management and preservation of historical artifacts and sites, direct local participation is crucial. Although Nigeria was the third member nation that ratified the 1970 Convention on 1 January 1972, it has done very little to implement the Convention.

South Africa

South Africa is a recent State Party to the 1970 Convention, its membership taking effect from 18 December 2003. In South Africa cultural property is protected by the comprehensive National Heritage Resources Act 1999. The preamble states that the objective of the act is to introduce an integrated and interactive system for the management of the national heritage resources, to promote good government at all levels, and to empower civil society to nurture and conserve their heritage resources so that they may be bequeathed to future generations. Part 2 of Chapter I (Sections 11–26) of the act establishes the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) together with its council to coordinate and promote the management of heritage resources at national level. Section 23 provides for the establishment of a provincial heritage resources authority. This is a welcome regulation. Too often, cultural heritage laws in Africa are top-down instead of bottom-up. They do not involve local authorities and local people, who in many cases are the best custodians of the heritage. Section 8 declares a three-tier system for heritage resources management, in which national level functions are the responsibility of SAHRA, provincial level functions are the responsibility of provincial heritage resources authorities, and local level functions are the responsibility of local authorities.

Section 32(19) controls the export of nationally significant heritage objects, and Section 33 controls the importation of cultural property illegally exported from foreign countries. Both SAHRA and provincial authorities must maintain databases and heritage registers.

Thus, before South Africa joined the 1970 Convention on 18 December 2003, it had in place legislation fulfilling most of the requirements of membership demanded by that Convention. Section 50(1) grants to SAHRA and provincial authorities power to appoint heritage inspectors, and by force of the section, each member of the South African Police Services and each customs officer is deemed to be a heritage inspector. They must be able to identify a heritage object about to be exported and confiscate it if a permit is not available. One of the strengths of the South African system is the administrative regime and training in place. There is the National Forum for the Law Enforcement of Heritage–related matters established in 2005 as the forum for a close working relationship between law enforcement and heritage officials. This allows for the dissemination of information and the sharing of ideas regarding the protection of cultural property. Members include the South African Police, INTERPOL, SAHRA, ICOM–South Africa, and Customs. Training seminars for the police are held at the University of Pretoria. There officers are made aware of the importance of combating heritage-related crimes. They are trained in identification, handling, and storing of heritage objects. In addition, a list with the contact information of experts is distributed to the police, in case they find a stolen heritage object, so that they could immediately contact an expert who could identify the object and advise on its correct handling and storage.

Tanzania

The first legal measure to protect Tanzania’s cultural heritage, the Monuments Preservation Ordinance, was promulgated by the British colonial government in 1937. The ordinance empowered the governor to declare and gazette structures of historic significance as monuments, and sites of archaeological, scientific, and historic significance as reserved areas. It was also in 1937 that the King George VI Memorial Museum was established for the preservation of the movable heritage. It was renamed the National Museum in 1962, two years after Tanganyika’s independence. However, it was not until 1957 that the government established an agency, the Antiquities Department, to handle the management and conservation of immovable cultural property. In 1964 the Monuments Preservation Ordinance was repealed and replaced by the Antiquities Act of that year. It remains the principal legislation, although it was modified by the Antiquities (Amendment) Act of 1979. The 1979 Act empowers the appropriate minister, after consultation with the minister for lands, to declare as a conservation area any area or site that (a) is a valuable national heritage for its aesthetic value; (b) contains a homogeneous group of monuments; or (c) contains buildings, structures, or other forms of human settlement that constitute a valuable national heritage for their historical, architectural, social, or cultural value.

Zambia

Zambia became a member state of the 1970 Convention on 21 June 1985. Heritage law in Zambia dates back to 1912, when the Bushmen Relics Proclamation was introduced to protect relics associated with Africans. This was followed by the Archaeological Ordinance of 1930 and then by the Natural and Historical Monuments and Relics Act of 1948. The current law is the National Heritage Conservation Commission Act 1989. In its totality, the new law is an attempt to update and to broaden the scope of what is protected. Terminologies such as heritage were added to the language, and penalties were made stiffer. There is an export permit provision in Section 34(1), whereby anyone who desires to export from Zambia any antiquity or cultural object must apply for an export permit. The 1989 Act Section 40(1) provides that no person shall excavate, collect, or export, as the case may be, any ancient heritage, any relic or part thereof, or alter, destroy, damage, or remove from its original site any ancient heritage, national monument, or relic in disregard of the provisions of the act. The aforementioned provisions include obtaining a permit to export or excavate. Section 42 provides that any person who discovers what appears to be an ancient heritage or relic shall (a) report his discovery to the Commission within fourteen days; (b) suspend his operations in the immediate vicinity of his discovery until thirty days after the delivery of his report, unless the Commission authorises their continuance; and (c) deliver to the Commission as soon as practicable, or request the Commission to examine and remove, any object which is, or appears to be a, relic. There is however no express rescue archaeology provision.

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe joined the Convention on 30 May 2006. Cultural Heritage is protected in Zimbabwe by the National Museums and Monuments Act 1972. This law replaced the colonial Monuments and Relics Act 1936, which in turn replaced Ancient Monuments Protection Ordinance 1902 and Bushmen Relics Ordinance 1912. Although the act was amended in 1976, 1984, 1990, and 2001, Zimbabwe is an illustration of the fact that independence has not been used as the opportunity of breaking off with the cultural heritage legislation installed by the former colonial power. There are rather few provisions for the protection of cultural goods in the act, concentrating as it does on the establishment of the board of trustees of the national museums and monuments, the staff, and pension matters. Section 24 prohibits excavation without the consent of the executive director of the National Museums. There is no provision on rescue archaeology. There are no provisions on illicit traffic in cultural property or on import and export of cultural objects.

Benin

Article 32 of Order on the Protection of Cultural Property of 1 June 1968 forbids exporting cultural property. The export of objects may, however, be authorized on an exceptional basis, by the minister in charge, on the condition that the objects in question have an equivalent either in a general form or in a collective form. Article 29 provides that where objects of antiquity are discovered, the finder and the proprietor of the building where the discovery is made are obliged to make an immediate declaration to the local administrative authority. The local authority will then notify the national authority. Article 33 also provides that antiquities discovered but yet to be classified are not to be exported without the authorization of the appropriate authority. Breaches of Articles 32 and 33 are punishable in accordance with the regulations provided for in customs-related matters. Under Article 15, no person has the right to carry out excavations or surveys on land belonging to him or her or any other person, of objects from the viewpoint of prehistoric, historic, ethnological, artistic, or archaeological interest without the prior authorization of the minister in charge. Benin’s Law 20 of 2007 on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage declares in Article 2 as state property the result of archaeological excavations, regular or clandestine. Under Article 82, archaeological goods movable or immovable, discovered in the territorial water of Benin are regarded as Beninese state-owned property.

Botswana

Unlike most other former British colonies, Botswana did not inherit any form of museums at independence in 1966. On attainment of independence, it lost no time establishing the National Museum and Art Gallery in 1968 by virtue of the provisions of National Museum and Art Gallery Act of 1967. This legislation, however, apart from the virtue of giving Botswana its first museum, does not have any policies or guiding principles for any fundamental museum functions such as collection, acquisition, documentation, de-accessioning, and exhibition. The Monuments and Relics Act 1970, which was reenacted with amendments in 2001, however, fills some of the void. Of particular note are Sections 12 and 19. Section 19(2) provides that an archaeological and pre-development impact assessment study and an environmental impact assessment study, shall be done by any person wishing to undertake major development, such as construction or excavation, for the purposes of mineral exploration and prospecting, mining, laying of pipeline, construction of roads or dams, or erection of any other structure, which will physically disturb the earth’s surface. It goes on to define “pre-development impact assessment” as the study by an archaeologist of an area in which development or any ground disturbing activity is to be carried out, to determine the likelihood of the development or activity impacting negatively on any cultural material or evidence that may be present in the area to be disturbed. No construction or excavation can take place until the relevant authority has considered the report and given permission. Approval may be subject to conditions to protect the natural or cultural heritage. Section 12 deals with rescue archaeology providing that on the discovery of any artifact, relic, or any other discovery of an archaeological nature, the discoverer and also the owner or occupier of the land shall without delay notify the Commissioner of Monuments and Relics. The discoverer must immediately suspend the excavation or construction until the commissioner has directed whether the excavation or construction can continue; and if so, the manner in which it may continue. The state has the option to acquire the land. By the provision of Section 18(5), no person shall without the written consent of the minister export from Botswana objects discovered as a result of archaeological excavation. The regulations set out in Sections 12 and 19 are distinguished by being only occasionally found in legislations of other countries.

Ethiopia

The Proclamation to Provide for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage was decreed 27 June 2000 under the authority of Article 55(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 1995. The Authority to Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage is established by Article 1. Article 3, the definition section, defines inter alia cultural heritage, movable cultural heritage, immovable cultural heritage, tangible cultural heritage, and intangible cultural heritage. Article 4 states that one of the objectives of the proclamation is to protect the cultural heritage against manmade and natural disasters. Article 14(1) provides that cultural heritage may be owned by the state or by any person. Article 14(2), however, declares that undiscovered cultural heritage is owned by the state. Under Article 26 the state may expropriate any cultural heritage that is not properly protected, repaired, and restored; or whose custody in a museum is deemed necessary; or which has been confiscated while being illegally taken out of Ethiopia. Article 26 also provides that Ethiopia’s cultural heritage held illegally in other countries shall be repatriated. It also directs that data on Ethiopia’s cultural heritage held in other countries shall be collected and publicized. Part 3 of the proclamation has provisions on exploration and undiscovered cultural heritage. After the usual provisions for obtaining prior permission and strict supervision by the Authority for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in an earlier article, Article 41 declares that any person who discovers any cultural heritage in the course of excavation connected with mining explorations, building works, road construction, or other similar activities or in the course of any fortuitous event, shall forthwith report the same to the authority, and shall protect and keep same intact until the authority takes delivery. Under Article 42, a permit must be obtained before any building works or road construction or excavations can be conducted in Reserved Areas, as declared by the Council of Ministers and consisting of immovable cultural heritage or an area deemed to be an archaeological site. Any person who holds a permit and who discovers cultural heritage in the course of construction activities shall stop the construction forthwith and report the same in writing to the authority. The article, however, fails to go on to make provisions for rescue archaeology. There is a provision for the appointment of cultural heritage inspectors in Article 43. An inspector is authorized to enter at reasonable hours any place where there is any cultural heritage and conduct an inspection to ensure that the cultural heritage is properly maintained and protected. Finally, in Article 45, penalties are prescribed for violations of various provisions of the Proclamation. After stating the penalties for minor infractions, Article 45(2)(a)(b)(c) states that unless a more severe penalty is prescribed by the Penal Code, any person who commits a cultural heritage offence shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment of not less than seven years and not exceeding 10 years. Those who destroy the cultural heritage intentionally will be punished with rigorous imprisonment of not less than 10 years and not exceeding 20 years. And officials who destroy or damage cultural heritage or guilty of unlawful enrichment shall be liable to rigorous imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not exceeding 20 years.

Kenya

In Kenya, calls for the preservation of the cultural heritage were made as early as the first decade of the last century, and in 1927 some coastal sites were protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Ordinance, and the National Museums of Kenya was also established. The 1927 Ordinance was repealed and replaced in 1934 by the Preservation of Objects of Archaeological and Paleontological Interest Ordinance. This legislation protected sites and monuments demarcated and published in the Kenya Gazette. In 1983 Kenya enacted new laws concerning the protection of the cultural heritage, namely, the National Museums Act, and the Antiquities and Monuments Act. In 2006 Kenya enacted consolidating legislation, the National Museums and Heritage Act of 2006, which inter alia provides for the identification, protection, conservation, and transmission of the cultural and natural heritage of Kenya; and Kenya repealed the 1983 laws. Under Section 46, all antiquities that are lying in or under the ground, or being objects of archaeological, paleontological, or cultural interest discovered in any part of Kenya after the commencement of the act “shall be the property of the government.” Section 49 prohibits anyone from buying, selling, or exchanging an antiquity unless he or she has been licensed to deal in antiquities. Section 50 authorizes the minister to compulsorily purchase an antiquity or protected object if he or she considers that it is in danger of being destroyed, injured, or allowed to fall into decay, or of being unlawfully removed. The purchase must be on the grounds of preservation and display for the public benefit. Perhaps in order to assist in the compilation of a national database of Kenya’s antiquities, Section 47 of the act provides that a person shall, if so required in writing by the National Museums, within such period not being less than one month as may be specified by the notice, furnish the authority with full particulars of all objects in his possession which he or she knows or has reason to believe to be antiquities or protected objects. Section 52 prohibits removal from Kenya of an antiquity or protected object unless its removal has been authorized by an exploration license, or by an export permit. An application for an export permit must be made in writing to the responsible minister, who may issue an export permit subject to such terms and conditions as he or she may deem fit, or without assigning any reason refuse to issue any export permit.

Rather than copy South Africa’s system of heritage inspectors, the Kenyan consolidating legislation at Section 57 introduced the system of heritage wardens. The minister is given the power to appoint heritage wardens for the purpose of enforcing the act. Under the section, a heritage warden may, with the leave of the attorney-general, be appointed prosecutor for purposes of prosecuting offences committed under the act. This presupposes that he or she would be a lawyer. Section 58 confers on heritage wardens the authority at any reasonable time to inspect an antiquity or protected object. Section 59 confers on a police officer or heritage warden power of arrest with or without a warrant (the latter subject to conditions set out in the section). Section 60 gives power to a customs officer to search without warrant anything intended to be removed from Kenya, or any person intending to leave Kenya, if the officer reasonably suspects that thing or person of containing or carrying a monument or part thereof, or an antiquity or protected object and seize it. Anything seized under Sections 59 and 60 shall be forfeited to the government after being taken before a magistrate.

Lesotho

The heritage of Lesotho is protected under the Historical Monuments, Relics, Fauna and Flora Act 1967. The principal museum curator of Lesotho alleged at the September 2011 Windhoek workshop on the Prevention and Fight against Illicit Traffic of Cultural Goods that there are no operational bodies such as heritage council or commission, which are meant to add support to the efforts of the department of culture in the preservation of the cultural objects.^{Footnote 9} She also revealed that there is no adequate inventorying of cultural objects. Lesotho has only one museum, the Morija Museum. There is now in the offing the National Heritage Resources Bill of 2011. It is not clear whether or not it has been passed. The draft bill is available on the Internet, and it is a vast improvement on the existing law of 1967.

Malawi

The Monuments and Relics Act 1990 makes provisions for the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage; and it also provides for the declaration of protected monuments and relics and acquisition by the government of rights and trusteeship over monuments and relics for the preservation thereof by agreement with the owners. It also makes provisions for a procedure to be followed upon the discovery; excavation; removal; trade; export and import of monuments, relics, and collections of cultural and natural heritage. Section 25 provides that all monuments and relics, whether movable or immovable, lying on or beneath the surface of the ground or in a river, a lake, or other waters, are the absolute property of the government, except privately owned monuments whose owners establish their title thereto. Section 26(5) provides that ownership of any land shall not, in itself, entitle the owner of the land to dispose of monuments or relics on or under the surface of that land. Section 36 is another example similar to that of Mali to control the activities of dealers in antiquities. It provides that no person shall be involved in trade in cultural objects unless he or she has a valid license. He or she must keep a detailed inventory of the stock and daily sale and purchase transactions. Sections 41–48 have detailed provisions on the export of cultural objects. Section 49 provides that the responsible minister shall within the terms laid down in agreements, treaties, and recommendations of international organizations arrange to recover cultural objects smuggled or otherwise taken out of Malawi and may assist in returning those brought into Malawi from other countries.

Namibia

Namibia’s National Heritage Act 2004 states in its preamble that it seeks to provide for the protection and conservation of places and objects of heritage significance and the registration of such places and objects in the National Heritage Register. It establishes the National Heritage Council as the administrative body for the management of Namibia’s cultural heritage. Section 24 provides for the establishment of Namibian Heritage Register with respect to places and objects of heritage protected under the act. Section 55 declares all archaeological and paleontological objects and meteorites the property of the state. It further prohibits activities likely to endanger archaeological or paleontological sites or meteorite. Section 57 declares that remains of all ships that have been situated on the coast or in the territorial waters or the contiguous zone of Namibia for 35 years or more are historic shipwrecks, and articles associated with such ships are historic shipwreck objects. It is the duty of the council to recommend to the responsible minister that the place where the remains of a ship are located be declared protected place, and an article associated with a ship be declared a protected object. Section 60 authorizes the appointment of heritage inspectors, in addition to each member of the Namibian Police Force and each customs and excise officer being a heritage inspector. A heritage inspector may at all reasonable times enter upon any land or premises for the purpose of inspecting any protected heritage resource. Section 65 has a provision uncommon in heritage legislation in Africa. It sets out how the council is to perform its educational function. The council is urged among other things to:

The suggestion for the involvement of local authorities is noteworthy.