Museum Security and Purloin: The Manhyia Palace Museum in perspective

Security in the museum is integral to the preservation of cultural heritage. Security, however, includes both the protection of collections, visitors and staff. The author undertakes a case study of the security issues at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Ghana. The study determined that lack of adequate security has led to the loss of essential collections through pilferage. The paper examines how these collections were stolen, through content analysis and a series of open‐ended systematic qualitative interviews with core staff. The author then recommends appropriate measures to prevent further loss. The findings from this case study also leads to the author to consider the state of security fractures in this case study as typical of many museums in countries with similar economic and political challenges By presenting these theories about museum theft, the author offers a set of remedies to close the loop holes for the most common forms of loss. Furthermore, the author provides a foundation for future research into the topic.