§ 82. Mr. Fenner Brockwayasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will give particulars of the emergency regulations announced by the Kenya Government on 20th November to deal with the prevention of crime.
§ Mr. LytteltonI will place copies of these and further regulations in the Library of the House as soon as they are available in London. They provide for the seizure and, if necessary, the forfeiture of stock or bicycles and other forms of transport in areas where serious crimes or Mau Mau meetings have taken place and where the inhabitants fail to do what they properly could do to prevent crimes in their locality. In some54W cases, shops and markets may be closed within a certain radius of an incident.
I explained the background of these regulations in my statement in the House yesterday. Much as the Governor of Kenya and I regret the necessity of using communal punishment, I am satisfied that in the present circumstances in Kenya such measures are necessary.