§ 20. Mr. SNELLasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can make any statement with regard to the appointment of the five Indian members to the Legislative Council of Kenya Colony; whether it was with his approval that a communal franchise for Indian electors was recently substituted for the policy of nomination introduced in 1924; whether he is aware that the Indian community, as a mark of protest against the communal franchise, has boycotted the elections, with the result that, with the exception of one Indian elected as an unopposed return, there are now no Indian representatives on the Legislative Council; and whether he will consider the advisability of returning to the policy adopted in 1924, on the recommendation of the Colonial Indian Committee, by the then Secretary of State for the Colonies and re-introduce the practice of nomination with regard to the Indian members of the Council?
§ Mr. AMERYThe communal franchise, approved in the White Paper of 1923, was accepted, without prejudice, by the Indian community. They subsequently withdrew their acceptance, and the later events were explained in the reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Central Hull (Lieut.-Commander Kenworthy) on 26th March. I regret that I am not at present in a position to make any statement as to the future.