ZANZIBAR BILL (Hansard, 28 November 1963)

THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
My Lords, the noble Marquess, Lord Salisbury, apologised for being heard twice in successive days. Not only am I speaking twice on successive days, but your Lordships have had the misfortune of hearing me three times in one day; and for that I can only offer my apologies. It is with great pleasure that I introduce this Bill. Again I have the good fortune of attending the Independence celebrations of Zanzibar immediately prior to the Independence celebrations of Kenya. I have had the pleasure of visiting these beautiful islands before, and I look forward very much to seeing them again.
I should like first to refer to the Zanzibar Independence Conference, held in September, at the conclusion of which the date for Zanzibar's independence was announced. Most helpful preparatory talks were held in Zanzibar, under the chairmanship of the British Resident, Sir George Mooring, which considerably facilitated our work in London. These talks were attended by all members of the National Assembly, both Government and Opposition, and resulted in a very large measure of agreement on the form of the Constitution for an independent Zanzibar. As a result, the Conference itself 815 had a comparatively small number of points to resolve. The Conference was marked throughout with a willingness on the part of both sides to co-operate in reaching decisions.
Constitutional progress in Zanzibar in recent years has been rapid. There have been Executive and Legislative Councils in the Protectorate since 1926, but it was only in 1957 that elections were held for the first time. These provided for the return of only six members to the Legislative Council, but in the 1961 elections, 23 members were returned and unofficial majorities were introduced in both Executive and Legislative Councils. At the same time, elected Ministers became responsible for a number of departments. At the Constitutional Conference held in March, 1962, agreement was reached on the basic details of a Constitution for the next stage, and Zanzibar became internally self-governing in June, 1963.
The Bill we have before us to-day is not an Independence Bill. Her Majesty's protection was extended to Zanzibar by the 1890 Agreement, and it is by the termination of this Agreement that it will be brought to an end. The present Bill is therefore concerned only with the consequences of independence on our law applying in relation to Zanzibar.
As noble Lords will be aware, it is usual for Independence Constitutions to be provided by Order in Council, but as Britain has never had constituent powers, this is not being done in the case of Zanzibar. Earlier Executive and Legislative Councils have been established by decrees of the Zanzibar Legislature, and the Independence Constitution will similarly be provided locally. It will be enacted by a specially established Constituent Assembly which met for the first time on November 21 and completed its work yesterday. Under the Constitution His Highness the Sultan—soon to be His Majesty—will be a constitutional Monarch. There will be a Bill of Rights, the provisions of which, along with a number of other provisions, will be entrenched and alterable only by a Bill passed by the National Assembly by a two-thirds majority in two successive sessions, with a dissolution of Parliament between. There will be a single Legislative Chamber which 816 will be wholly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise.
Noble Lords will wish me to say a few words about Zanzibar's economy, which is at present facing difficulties and which is so dependent on cloves, although efforts are being made to diversify it. We shall be happy to continue to help Zanzibar in her financial difficulties and to provide both recurrent and capital assistance after independence.
My Lords, Zanzibar is a small country, but rightly proud of its history. All parties have affirmed on numerous occasions their wish that, on becoming independent, Zanzibar should be a member of the Commonwealth. I am sure that noble Lords in all parts of the House will wish the best of futures for this small island and that, with Zanzibar an equal partner with us in the Commonwealth, the ties of friendship that have long linked our two countries will continue and deepen. I beg to move.

§ THE EARL OF LISTOWEL
My Lords, I rise only to associate the Opposition with the good wishes expressed by the noble Duke to the Government and people of Zanzibar for their future as an independent State, and to welcome them as the smallest member of our Commonwealth and an equal partner with us, with India, and with all the greatest and most powerful members.

§ LORD OGMORE
My Lords, I should like, both on my own behalf and on behalf of noble Lords who sit on these Benches, to associate myself with the welcome to the Bill, and also to wish Zanzibar every success in the future. As the noble Duke has explained, this is an interesting variation on our usual procedure when countries become independent, because the instrument of independence will be created by their own Parliament in Zanzibar. We have for a long time had an association with the Sultan of Zanzibar that has been a particularly happy and successful one. I do not think it is always realised how reasonable the Sultans of Zanzibar have been.
At one time their authority—a rather vague authority, and not at all clear; 817 but an authority of some kind—reached right up to the Great Lakes in the centre of Africa; and it was from Zanzibar that Dr. Livingstone, of the London Missionary Society, started his great work of exploration and missionary work in Africa. Without Zanzibar, and the help he got from the Sultan and the Arabs—who were, of course, in many ways slavers—Dr. Livingstone would never have been able to carry out his great missionary journeys. The house in which he lived is there to this day: I saw it myself when I was in Zanzibar. It is to me a curious feature that Dr. Livingstone, and the others who were the great scourges of the slave trade, should have operated from the very centre of the slave trade itself. That very friendly association between the Sultan and the nobles of Zanzibar, and the people of Zanzibar, and ourselves has gone on the whole time.
It seems to me that this is one of the countries that will find it a little difficult to stand alone. I have been looking up some details in the rather belated 1961 Colonial Annual Report. It is now over a year since the Report was published, but the area is unlikely to have changed. The country has an area of 1,020 square miles, and in 1961 the population was 312,000 people: it is not a very populous place. The revenue was £2,834,000, and the expenditure was £2,937,000. Of the development plans between 1961 and 1964, the total involved is to be £1,235,000, of which £415,000 is to come from Colonial Development and Welfare Funds, £680,000 from other loan funds, and £140,000 from local resources. So the resources are not very great.
It seems to me quite obvious that the future of Zanzibar must lie in association with the other East African Territories, particularly, I think, at any rate at the moment, in the East African Common Services Organisation. I should be glad if the noble Duke could give us an indication, if he is able to (I understand that he is a substitute for the noble Marquess), of the present stage reached in Zanzibar's application to join the East African Common Services. In future, if an East African Federation is created, I have no doubt that Zanzibar will fit in it. I hope so, because, frankly, I do not see how this small territory 818 can possibly stand on its own feet outside the East African group of States which will make up the East African Federation. Far more than Kenya, it will need funds, as the figures I have given your Lordships show, and a great deal of continuing assistance, from this country, from the International Bank and from other international organisations.
I am glad the noble Duke mentioned the clove industry, because when I was there the industry had suffered a very serious blight. I have forgotten the name of it at the moment. It was "sudden death" or something of that kind. It ran through the place in a very short space of time. Practically the whole of the clove crop in Pemba, the other island, was affected, and the clove people were in a great state of anxiety. Your Lordships know, of course, that clove is to betel what eggs are to bacon, the sausage is to mash, or tripe is to onions—it is all part of the same thing. Clove is used with the betel—not the Liverpool "Beatle", but the betel nut, of course.
I have been wondering whether it is possible for the tourist trade to be encouraged in Zanzibar. It is a fascinating island. It would be a rather specialised type of tourist trade, much as we propose for Malta. But with the rapidity with which air travel is developing, I cannot see that in a few years' time places like Malta, and even Zanzibar, will be far away from the big centres of population in the United States and Europe. I should have thought that this was a country which should look to its tourist trade and the possibility of that trade. I have no doubt that the noble Duke has been there and knows how extraordinarily interesting those two islands are.
I said before on the Kenya Bill that the noble Duke would follow his predecessors in replying to my question about the Judicial Committee. The noble Duke has broken new ground today—it is not often possible to do that in this House—for he has made no reply at all, while the others did say something, even though it was only "a fond farewell". The same remarks apply on this Bill as on the other one. I hope the noble Duke will bring my suggestions about 819 the Judicial Committee to the notice of his right honourable friend and the Lord Chancellor, because time is not on our side and I feel that this is a very important point.
With these few remarks, my Lords, I wish Zanzibar every success in the future and, as I said in the case of Kenya, I hope very much to have the opportunity of revisiting this delightful little State in the not any too distant future.

THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE
My Lords, I thank the two noble Lords very much indeed for the way in which they have associated themselves with my remarks. I must apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, for the omission and I will certainly bring his suggestion for a peripatetic Judicial Committee of the Privy Council before my right honourable friend and my noble and learned friend who sits on the Woolsack.
On the question of the E.A.C.S.O., the situation is that at the moment Zanzibar partakes in some of the common services, but no final decision has yet been taken whether she should become a full member. Perhaps I should have said a word earlier about the federation of these East African Territories, because I should certainly agree with the noble Lord, Lord Ogmore, that it would be a great help to Zanzibar's future if she could be part of a larger unit. I should like to stress this very much because it is of great importance as noble Lords on all sides of the House have said. We appreciate that any question of federation among the East African countries is a question for them, and for them alone, and is something that they must be left to work out for themselves, without advice or any participation. That is something we must let them resolve for themselves. Any advice, even how to help them, would be, I think, inadvisable for these independent countries. I say "Thank you" again to noble Lords for joining with me in wishing Zanzibar success and I hope your Lordships will now give this Bill a Second Reading.