§ Mr. Dugdaleasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether registration has yet taken place for the elections to the Nairobi City Council; how many Africans, Asians and Europeans have registered; and why the date for the elections has been postponed.
117W
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydRegistration still continues as the closing date for applications is the 31st July, 1959. Approximate registration figures to date are as follows: Africans, 3,200; Asians, 13,400; Muslims, 5,000; Europeans, 2,600; and 900 Companies.
Because the closing date for registration applications has been twice postponed, the election date has been deferred, with the agreement of the Council, until February, 1960. This will be the first convenient date for elections after completion of the Electoral Roll, which should be towards the end of 1959.
The first postponement of the closing date for registration applications was to enable the new Municipal Election Rules, which introduced a non-racial franchise and which were drawn up after consultation with and reference to all interested groups, to be amended to permit a wider franchise. The second postponement was at the request of the Acting Mayor and an African Constituency Elected Member, was to ensure that all communities have an adequate opportunity for registration as the original response had proved disappointing.