HC Deb 21 June 1960 vol 625 cc191-3
22. Mr. Stonehouse

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Mr. Kenneth Kaunda was declared a prohibited immigrant in Kenya and prevented from travelling to Tanganyika.

Mr. Iain Macleod

Mr. Kaunda became a prohibited immigrant under the Kenya Immigration Ordinance by arriving in the Colony without the prescribed entry permit. In the circumstances he was required to proceed on the aircraft in which he had arrived. I regret that he has suffered inconvenience but the Governor of Kenya has assured me that if on any future journey he should arrive in transit with his documents in order, there should be no difficulty.

Mr. Stonehouse

Is the Colonial Secretary aware that that excuse will sound very thin? Will he reprimand those in Kenya who have been responsible for a stupid action which has undermined much of the good will which was established between him and the leader of the most important political party in Northern Rhodesia as a result of the talks which he himself had with Mr. Kaunda when he was in England? What reason can there possibly have been to prevent Mr. Kaunda from travelling to Tanganyika to meet Mr. Nyerere, particularly as in Tanganyika there has been great success in establishing friendship and understanding between the communities?

Mr. Macleod

I greatly value the talks which I had with Mr. Kaunda here and in Northern Rhodesia. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman did not hear it, but I expressed my regret that Mr. Kaunda had suffered inconvenience. After all, this incident arose from the fact that Mr. Kaunda arrived in Kenya without the prescribed entry permit. It was from that circumstance that this chain of events came.

Mr. Brockway

I appreciate the regret which the Minister has stated and which I received from the Colonial Office independently. However, is it not a fact that many visitors to Kenya do not fulfil the small technical requirement which Mr. Kaunda had omitted? Is it not the case that Mr. Kaunda did not desire to stay in Kenya but was using the airport merely in transit to Tanganyika? Is not this an example of certain officials at the airport seeking to take advantage of African leaders when they are passing through Kenya in this way?

Mr. Macleod

No, I do not think so. It is difficult to tell at this distance from the events. I think that this is probably a case of an airport official applying the existing rules too rigidly but perfectly correctly. I do not think that it was a question of his trying to take anything out of Mr. Kaunda in that sense.

Mr. Callaghan

While it is welcome to hear the Colonial Secretary say that the airport official might have behaved correctly but perhaps rather tactlessly, will he represent to the officials there that it is undesirable that African leaders should be hustled in this undignified way and that nothing but good can come from a visit by Mr. Kaunda to Mr. Nyerere in Tanganyika and that this sort of behaviour can cause, I will not say irreparable harm, but unnecessary pinpricks and friction?

Mr. Macleod

I think that the House has dealt with this matter in a very reasonable manner. I said that I regretted that Mr. Kaunda had suffered inconvenience and I know that that regret is shared by the Government of Kenya.