§ 3. Mr. G. M. Thomsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the number of branches of the Nyasaland African Congress which were banned under the emergency legislation; and what steps have been taken by the Government of Nyasaland to prevent new branches from being formed.
§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd)One hundred and sixty-seven branches. As the Nyasaland African Congress is now proscribed 1085 any person forming new branches would be liable to prosecution under the Penal Code.
§ Mr. ThomsonIs the Secretary of State aware that all our colonial history shows that it is not possible to suppress by force a genuinely nationalist movement, however difficult it may be at any one time in its behaviour, and will he, therefore, reconsider his policy of declaring the organisation an illegal one?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydNo. Sir.