HC Deb 22 February 1956 vol 549 cc372-3
41. Mr. Fenner Brockway

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the decisions of the Kenya Government on the recommendations in the Coutts Report regarding the enfranchisement of Africans.

Mr. Hare

The proposals of the Kenya Government on the recommendations in the Coutts Report have been published in a Sessional Paper which is now being debated in the Legislative Council of Kenya. My right hon. Friend has, therefore, no statement to make at present.

Mr. Brockway

Is the Minister aware of the very deep resentment that there is among Africans towards these proposals, and particularly the proposals that there should be plural votes for certain persons, and an income restriction upon other Africans; and will he urge reconsideration of these proposals?

Mr. Hare

My information is not the same as that of the hon. Member. I have arranged for copies of the Coutts Report and of the Sessional Paper to be put in the Library. I think that hon. Members would be interested to read them. The discussion in the Kenya Legislature should be over by the end of the month, and I am sure that the hon. Member will agree that it would be better to wait until we have had all the information before reviewing this.

Captain Waterhouse

Is it not a fact that these proposals have been very well received in certain quarters, and is it not very much to the advantage of Kenya that the proposals should be given a chance to be worked out without interference from this House?

Mr. Hare

I think that my right hon. and gallant Friend is quite correct. On the whole, the reaction has been very favourable, and I still think that we must give the proposals a reasonable chance.

Mr. J. Johnson

May I ask the Minister to look again at the so-called loyalty test, which has caused enormous ill-feeling among the Kikuyu and Embu and Meru peoples, and which can lead to discrimination and abuse by administrative officers in certain cases?

Mr. Hare

I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that a debate is going on at the moment in the Kenya Legislature and that this is one of the points that is to be taken up in that debate. I would much rather discuss this when we have had full details of the debate.