§ 24. Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is now prepared to make a statement on the result of his discussions with the Governor of British Somaliland Protectorate.
§ 33. Mr. Braineasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what constitutional changes are to be made in the Somaliland Protectorate following his recent discussions with the Governor; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydIn opening the new Session of the Protectorate Legislative Council yesterday the Governor announced certain constitutional changes. With permission I will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT the relevant paragraphs of his speech.
§ Mr. RankinFor my own information and that of the House, can the hon. Gentleman say whether or not we are now to have Somalis in the Executive Council? Does he still accept the proposal that Somaliland will have self-government by 1960?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI do not think that the hon. Gentleman will quarrel unduly with the statement. It is a long one and it is worthy of being read in full.
Following are the paragraphs:Arrangements are now being made for the formation of a Legislative Council with 13 elected members, and an Electoral Bill to provide for the method of election of these members will be laid before this Council. There will also be provision for me to nominate up to 3 unofficial members. The Legislative Council will therefore consist of the Governor as President, and, according to the number of unofficials up to 3 actually nominated, up to 17 official members, and up to 16 unofficial members including 13 elected members.It is also my intention to invite unofficial members of the Legislative Council to be associated with the working of groups of Departments and they will be called into consultation with the Executive Council from time to time. In this way I hope that we shall be able to provide training for unofficial Somalis in the responsibilities of the Government.This Constitution provides for the introduction of the electoral system into the Protectorate for the first time and is designed to prepare the way for further advances as soon as the unofficial members associated with the work of Departments have gained experience of Government activities.Of course there will subsequently be further steps in Constitutional advance. This and other allied subjects are at this moment being examined by the Secretary of State and his advisers, and I shall be making a further announcement in the near future. I hope this will be possible before the end of March.
§ 25. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, what further progress has been made in respect of self-government for Somaliland in 1960; and how many Somalis are in Government service in British Somaliland or are receiving training for this purpose.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydAs regards the first part of the Question I would refer the 533 hon. Member to the reply given earlier to the hon. Member for Govan (Mr. Rankin) and my hon. Friend the Member for Essex, South-East (Mr. Braine). There are 3,981 Somalis employed by the Protectorate Government. Fifty of these are receiving advanced training abroad and sixty-five Somali students are training abroad with a view to their entering Government service on return. In addition, a number of Somalis are training locally under departmental arrangements.
§ Mr. SorensenMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman how this compares with the number of Somalis being trained for administration in the neighbouring Somali areas? Is it not true that the proportion elsewhere seems to be larger than in their own territories?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI cannot answer that without notice.