Africa-Press – Angola. Access to the Kongo Kingdom Regional Museum, located in the city of Mbanza Kongo, northern Zaire Province, has been subject to a payment of 352 kwanzas since January this year, as part of the implementation of the new organic statute of the institution.
Speaking on Thursday, the head of the Department of Education and Cultural Animation, Kediamosiko Toko, said that charging this amount per person aims to make the institution profitable, access to which has been free since its creation.
“These amounts can help in the conservation and preservation of museum pieces in this public space”, he said.
According to the person in charge, the fees are exempt for the elderly, children under 12 years old and former combatants and veterans of the country.
He reported that during the first quarter of this year, 546 tourists, of whom 39 were foreigners from France, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, South Africa, Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), visited the museum to learn about the historical and cultural past of the former Kingdom of Congo.
Compared to the first three months of the previous year, there was a reduction of 3,278 national and foreign tourists.
Kediamosiko Toko suspected that the charging of entrance fees to the museum was one of the factors contributing to the reduction in visits to the institution that preserves the collective memory of the sovereigns of the former Kingdom of Kongo.
He revealed that the Regional Museum currently controls 109 artifacts.
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