ARIAKA

§ THE EARL OF DUNDEE

My Lords, I have At in command from Her Majesty the Queen to acquaint the House that Her Majesty, having been informed of She purport of the Uganda Independence Bid, has consented to place Her Majesty’s Prerogative and interest so far as they are affected by the Bill at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill.

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. The object of the Bill is to provide for the Independence of Uganda. I am sure that your Lordships will be pleased to know that it was the unanimous wish expressed at the Independence Conference that Uganda should remain in the Common wealth and be under the sovereignty of Her Majesty the Queen, as Queen of Uganda. It so happens that it is almost exactly 100 years since the explorers Speke and Grant discovered the headwaters of the Nile and it was from this date that our association with Uganda began. It is now 68 years since the Protectorate was first declared. During these years Uganda has been growing into a nationhood. Its peoples have been learning to work together to create a stable and happy country. There is a growing spirit of co-operation in Uganda and in recent years a read basis of political unity has been worked out.

 

The Munster Com-mission (which your Lordships will remember was the Relationships Commission) did much to promote this spirit of unity, and I should like to record the gratitude of Her Majesty’s Government to the noble Earl, Lord Munster, who led the Commission, and to his distinguished colleagues Professor Wade and Dr. Marshall.

 

At the Independence Conference which was concluded on June 29 at Marlborough House, arrangements were agreed which offer a permanent solution to many of the long-standing problems which have faced Uganda. The most important and baffling of these problems 1146 has been the welding of the traditional kingdoms of Buganda, Ankole, Bunyoro and Toro into a modern structure of Government The Report of this Conference is contained in Command Paper No. 1778, which was recently laid before Parliament. Uganda, perhaps more than any other British territories in Africa, has been notable for the exceptional strength of its tribal loyalties and institutions.

 

Buganda, with its central position, with its highly developed system of Government, its Kabaka, and its traditional Council the Lukiko has tended to overshadow the rest of the country. The other kingdoms and districts have also been equally concerned to preserve their individuality. They have all, however, been willing to make sacrifices in order that the new Independent Uganda should have sufficient strength and cohesion to play its part in the affairs of the modern world.

 

The difficult question of the position of Buganda was to a large extent solved at the Lancaster House Conference last year. The work of the Independence Conference last month was greatly facilitated by this preparatory work. A federal relationship between Buganda and the Central Government had then been agreed, and a satisfactory relationship has now been worked out between the other Kingdoms and districts and the Central Government. Noble Lords will remember that the Central Government, under the leadership of Mr. Obote, has been in office for less than three months. None the less, during this short time much constructive work has been done.

 

The success of the Independence Conference was in no small part due to the confidence which Mr. Obote and his Ministers were able to inspire in the delegates from all parts of the country. Having myself sat for many hours in the Constitutional Committee, I was able to see this for myself. I should like to pay my tribute to the painstaking care and obvious sense of responsibility with which the Uganda delegates set about their task. I am bound to say that again and again during the course of the Conference regional interests were pressed; but equally, my Lords, when there seemed some danger that these regional interests were being over-emphasised, the good sense of the delegates prevailed, and they reminded themselves that their 1147 purpose was to achieve a Constitution which would benefit Uganda as a whole.

 

There was one issue at the Conference which proved incapable of solution by agreement. This was the dispute between the Kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro over the so-called “lost counties”. As your Lordships will remember, the Prime Minister appointed a Commission consisting of three Members of your Lordships’ House, under the chairmanship of Lord Molson, assisted by Lord Listowel and Lord Ward of Witley, to advise the Government on this difficult question. Those of your Lordships who have read their report will, I am quite certain appreciate the immense care and close consideration of all the facts with which they discharged their task.

 

Like the Munster Commission, Lord Molson’s Commission treated the problem of the “lost counties” as a political question and not as a juridical one. Their report, your Lordships will remember, recommended that two of the counties, Buyaga and Bugangazzi, should be transferred from Buganda to Bunyoro. We entered upon the Independence Conference with the conviction that this would be the best solution to the problem, if the two Kingdoms could be brought to agree to it. But, my Lords, in the event, Buganda were adamant that there should be no transfer of territory. They maintained that the territory concerned was lawfully theirs, and, furthermore, that Lord Molson’s Commission had to a very large extent acquitted them of charges of discrimination.

 

As there could be no agreement, my right honourable friend had to weigh very carefully the consequences of an imposed decision. He took fully into account the Commission’s warnings of the risk of serious disturbances in the future if nothing were done. He also accepted their view that the atmosphere was quite unsuitable for holding a referendum in the short time available before the promised date of independence. He therefore decided upon a solution which gave the responsibility of the administration of the two counties to the Central Government for a period, and with it the responsibility to give the people who live there the opportunity by a referendum to decide their own future 1148 in conditions of peace and security. It is our belief that this solution will give security to the peoples concerned, and should greatly reduce the threat to peace and good order at this crucial period in the life of Uganda.

 

As your Lordships know, the view was urged in another place that there should be written into the Constitution a date before which the referendum must be held, or, at least, that a public declaration should be made in Uganda that a referendum will be held, without necessarily putting a date to it. An undertaking was given that these views would be put to Mr. Obote and this has been done. Mr. Obote is now embarking upon discussions on the practical implementation of the Conference’s decisions. I am sure that your Lordships would not wish that by anything we say here to-day we should complicate the issue in Uganda.

 

My Lords, turning to the Bill itself, Clause 1 is in the normal form and provides for the fully responsible status of Uganda. Clause 2 deals with nationality matters consequent upon the attainment of independence by Uganda. The provisions here are similar to those for Tanganyika. Clause 3 deals with consequential modifications to other enactments. Clause 4 enables loans to be made to the East African Common Services Organisation under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act, 1959, after the Independence of Uganda. This follows the precedent in the Tanganyika Independence Act. Clause 5 interprets the words “existing Constitution Order”, which means the Uganda (Constitution) Order in Council, 1962, which was made on February 26 this year. Clause 6 is the short title of the Bill.

 

My Lords, I think we can look back with pride at the period of the British protection over Uganda, and I feel sure that your Lordships will endorse the sincere thanks of Her Majesty’s Government to the British civil servants who have contributed so much to Uganda’s progress. We are particularly glad to know that the Government of Uganda is anxious to retain their services after independence, and that the arrangements made under the Overseas Service Aid Scheme have made it possible for many of them to decide to stay on. I think it is right that at this time we should also 1149 remember the part played by explorers, traders, members of the professions, doctors, lawyers, and the like, and above all the missionaries, whose work has been so particularly successful in Uganda. My Lords, I beg to move.