§ Mr. F. Willeyasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what is the status in the Bamangwato tribal organisation of the prominent African men who have advised the District Commissioner to bar the holding of meetings in Serowe and in other districts in the Reserve.
§ Mr. J. FosterIn many African tribes there exist a body of responsible elders and prominent men, who, without necessarily holding any official position, customarily advise the native authority and are frequently consulted by the Administration. In this case a number of these elders and other tribesmen called on the District Commissioner to apologise for and to dissociate themselves from the rowdyism which occurred at the kgotla on 26th May, when the District Commissioner was prevented from speaking.
The District Commissioner's subsequent decision to prohibit all meetings in Serowe without his permission was taken primarily because the deliberate attempt which had been made by a minority to frustrate authority and to prevent the communication of Government policy to the tribe could not be tolerated. In reaching this decision the District Commissioner would, of course, take into account views expressed by those persons who had called on him in the interval following the kgotla of 26th May.