§ 2.35 p.m.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any statement to make on the recent discussions in London between the Secretary of Slate for the Colonies and the representatives of the Uganda Legislative Council.]
LORD ST. OSWALDMy Lords, my right honourable friend held a series of informal discussions with a group of representative members of the Uganda Legislative Council between the 22nd and 29th June. The group comprised members who supported the Majority recommendations in the Report of the Constitutional Committee set up last year, and those who supported the Minority recommendations. The Majority Delegation's principal concern was to express their disappointment at the decision on the Wild Committee's recommendations which the Governor announced to the Legislature on 22nd February, and they sought clarification of a number of other constitutional matters.
My right honourable friend explained that, because so far no coherent pattern of political Parties had emerged in Uganda, and because the problem of the form of Government which would be suitable for an independent Uganda had yet to be solved, he was convinced that the next stride of advance in Uganda should be a cautious one. None the less, it would represent an important advance, with the introduction of a majority of members in the Council of Ministers who were not drawn from Civil Service, and an overwhelming elected majority in 914 the Legislature. Thereafter it was hoped that political circumstances in the Protectorate would be such that the country would make swift progress towards the next stage of internal self-government on its progress to independence.
When the Majority Delegation pressed him to agree that if the forthcoming elections should show a clear and coherent result, further advances should at once be conceded, my right honourable friend replied that he would naturally consider the situation after the elections very carefully. Meanwhile his final conclusions on the detailed constitutional matters still outstanding would be embodied in a despatch to be published. He also explained that he was proceeding with the appointment of a "Relationships Commission" whose task would be to recommend a form of Government to meet Uganda's particular needs. This Commission will go to work in Uganda before the election, though it will not report till afterwards. There were also useful discussions about public service matters and about future economic aid to Uganda. The Minority Delegation were generally in agreement with my right honourable friend, but impressed upon him the need for a clear plan of constitutional development for Uganda in the interests of stability and confidence, particularly in the economic sphere.