§ 66. Mr. Brockwayasked the Undersecretary of State for Commonwealth Relations why the name of Her Majesty The Queen is used in a letter to the Bamangwato tribe in Bechuanaland, dated 2nd April, 1953, and signed by P. G. Batho, District Commissioner and Native Authority, in a manner such as to suggest her personal intervention in the dispute regarding the appointment of a chief.
§ Mr. J. FosterThe letter referred to was couched in language that could be grasped by ordinary tribesmen and the references in it to Her Majesty The Queen and the appropriate Order in Council were designed to impress upon the tribe that the legislation barring Seretse and Tshekedi Khama from the chieftainship is an Order by Her Majesty in Council and is therefore the most conclusive applicable to the Bechuanaland Protectorate.
§ 67. Mr. Brockwayasked the Undersecretary of State for Commonwealth Relations the purpose of the kgotla of the Bamangwato tribe in Bechuanaland called for 4th May.
§ Mr. J. FosterThe kgotla summoned for the 4th May will be a resumption of the kgotla held in November last year to consider the designation of a new chief. As the hon. Member will recall, the kgotla reached no decision in November and was adjourned until after the planting season.