§ Mr. Rankinasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why the assistance of Mr. Harry Nkumbula, President of the African National Congress, was refused by the District Commissioner of Gwembe; and when he, or the Congress officials, will be permitted to investigate African complaints of lack of water, inadequate housing and other causes of unrest among those who have been evicted from the Kariba Dam area in Northern Rhodesia.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI understand that Mr. Nkumbula has not made any offer of assistance to the District Commissioner. If one had been made it would have been courteously declined, both because of the past record of the African National Congress in the district and because the body responsible for the administration of the area is the Gwembe Native Authority, which is opposed to Congress activity in the area.