§ 28. Mr. Fenner Brockwayasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he will review the decision to exile Seretse Khama from Bechuanaland at the end of the period of five years as originally intended.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerHer Majesty's Government have already carried out their review. For reasons set out in the statement made in both Houses on 27th March, 1952, they decided that their predecessors' refusal to recognise Seretse should be made permanent. They also decided that the good government and well-being of the reserve required that Seretse Khama should absent himself from the Protectorate until an alternative chief had been securely established with his own administration. It has been made clear on a number of occasions that this decision is final. There is no question of a further review.
§ Mr. BrockwayIs it not the case that every attempt to get the Bamangwato tribe to appoint a new chief has failed? Is it not time that this thing of which most people are thoroughly ashamed—that Seretse Khama should be excluded from his country only because he has married a white woman—should be ended?
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerNo, Sir. I cannot agree with the hon. Member on the first part of his supplementary question. We believe that the tribe will in time designate a new chief.
§ 29. Mr. Fenner Brockwayasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations how many supporters of Seretse Khama have been appointed to the African Advisory Council, the Joint Council of European and Africans, and the Board of Advice on African Education in Bechuanaland; and how many headmen of the Bamangwato tribe, who are supporters of Seretse Khama, have been removed from their posts during the last two years.
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerThe feelings which individual inhabitants of the Protectorate may entertain towards Seretse Khama, even if these were known, have nothing to do with their eligibility for appointment to the bodies to which the hon. Member refers or for holding the post of headman.
§ Mr. BrockwayIs it not the case that there is not a single supporter of Seretse Khama on any of these councils, that his supporters who have been headmen have been systematically deposed and that this means that the majority of the tribe has no representation upon these bodies?
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerNo, Sir. The hon. Member is quite wrong. As far as I have been able to ascertain, in every previous Question which the hon. Member has put on the Order Paper his suggestions have been shown to be wrong.
§ Mr. PageWill my hon. Friend bear in mind that it would be most undesirable at present to stir up further support for Seretse Khama when such stable government has been formed in his tribe?
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerI entirely agree with my hon. Friend.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanIn order to test what the people of this tribe and Territory really want, would the hon. Gentleman consider applying to them the procedure which the Government supports in other parts of the world, namely, submitting the question to free, democratic elections under the supervision of the United Nations?
§ Mr. Dodds-ParkerNo, Sir.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesWhy not?