HC Deb 06 March 1957 vol 566 cc60-2W
92. Mr. Russell

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make a statement on the resolution on Tanganyika passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 27th February.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Two resolutions affecting Tanganyika were adopted by the General Assembly on 26th February. Both were utterly unrealistic and unhelpful. In opposing these resolutions my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs reasserted our intention to continue to administer the territory in accordance with the terms of the Trusteeship Agreement and to promote the harmonious advance of all communities towards self-government. He stated that we could not accept a demand that we adopt arbitrary timetables for successive stages of this advance.

Following is text of the statement made by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to the United Nations General Assembly on 26th February, 1957. Mr. NOBLE (United Kingdom): I have asked to speak in order to explain the negative votes which my delegation will be casting on two of the draft resolutions contained in the report of the Fourth Committee now before the Assembly. These are draft resolution III and draft resolution IV. Draft resolution III 'invites the Administering Authorities to estimate the period of time required for the attainment of self-government or independence.' It applies to two Trust Territories under British administration—namely, the Cameroons under British administration and Tanganyika. Draft resolution IV deals exclusively with Tanganyika and recommends that the United Kingdom Government, as Administering Authority: 'Should consider making a statement on the policy it proposes to follow in Tanganyika and should, inter alia, include therein the principle that, in accordance with the principles of the International Trusteeship System, the Territory shall be guided towards self-government or independence and shall become a democratic State in which all inhabitants have equal rights.' There are, in my delegation's view, other objectionable features in these two draft resolutions, apart from the provisions to which I have drawn attention. Since, however, these two provisions are the principal features of the draft resolutions, what I have to say will he related to them. The objective and intention of Her Majesty's Government in the administration of Tanganyika have been frequently and consistently announced since the inception of our administration under the Trusteeship System. I shall restate it now. It is to continue to administer the Territory in accordance with the terms of the Trusteeship Agreement, until the ultimate goal of self-government has been reached. Her Majesty's Government interprets the Trusteeship Agreement and Article 76 of the Charter as imposing on the Administering Authority an obligation to provide for the full participation of all sections of the population, irrespective of race or religion, in the progressive development of political institutions and in the economic and social advancement of the Territory. Each section of the population must be enabled and encouraged to play its full part in the development of the Territory and its institutions, in complete confidence that the rights and interests of all communities—both indigenous and immigrant—will be secured and preserved. As the educational, social and economic progress of the African community it Tanganyika continues, the participation of Africans in both the legislative and the executive branches of government is bound to increase. Finally, Her Majesty's Government is firmly opposed to any attempt to regulate the organic growth of constitutional development by setting arbitrary timetables or time-limits. It will decide on the pace of change in the light of experience gained at each stage and the readiness of the people of the Territory for the next step forward. Where the way ahead to the next objective is clearly seen at any time in a particular field, it will frequently prove convenient and helpful to set ourselves a target for the attainment of that objective. We are, however, not prepared to make any general forecast of the dates by which we would expect to achieve successive stages in the advance to self-government. Nor do we think that it would be useful to attempt any more elaborate statement of our objectives and intentions than the clear declaration which I have reiterated today.