Orders of the Day — Sierra Leone Independence Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 March 1961.

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Photo of Mr Robert Edwards Mr Robert Edwards , Bilston 12:00, 22 March 1961

Nevertheless, the point I was making, which I think is a valid point, for the sake of the future and for the record, is that on this very day, in Bow Street, the first Minister of Mines and Minerals in Sierra Leone, the leader of its first organised mineworkers union, the head of the one opposition party that exists in that country, has had to face a warrant issued against him in his own country. That has happened here, in the metropolis of the Commonwealth this very day.

I take a poor view of a situation of this nature, and it might very well be that if this good man, Siaka Stevens, had not been able to communicate with me last Thursday, when he was arrested by four policemen in a most crude fashion, he might have been deported. The four policemen first went to his son's home, a boarding house, looking for his father, and then went to Mr. Stevens' hotel. He was taken to Bow Street and put into the cells, and, if he had not contacted me, it may very well have been that next day he would have been shipped off to Sierra Leone in handcuffs and on a warrant.

I make this point because I think it is dreadfully important for the future of the people of Sierra Leone. Here we are discussing independence and human freedoms, and when we do so, no evil consequences can arise for a people by the pursuit of truth, and that is why I am being so frank, though I am still a supporter of independence for Sierra Leone. At the Constitutional Conference, four parties assembled in London—three major parties and two independent representatives from the diamond area of Kono. Here in London, without any discussion in Sierra Leone, without any discussion in the House of Representatives, these twenty-six people got together and formed a Coalition Government by issuing posts in the new Government with the allocation of jobs to Ministers and Junior Ministers.

No wonder they got an almost unanimous vote for independence before an election. After all, the Government of Sir Milton Margai, with all due respect to him, had only one year to go, and that is not a long time in the history of a country which has not had its freedom for 250 years. One year is not a long time in the great struggle for human freedom, and it seems to me that they could have waited another year, could have had their elections and then independence. I think that is the democratic way of doing things. I think that it is a violation of democratic principles for a small group of articulate politicians to come to London for the constitutional conference and to form a Government here, without consulting their own people at home and without discussing it in their parliament.

On their return to Sierra Leone, the one voice of the opposition, that of Mr. Wallace Johnson, a great agitator—but all the great things that have happened in this world, all the rights and freedoms we enjoy, have been won by men like Wallace Johnson who were never afraid to fight for human rights, irrespective of the personal sacrifice which they had to make—was silenced. The one opposition voice in the House of Representatives was silenced, because he was arrested, and they threw the book at him, just as they threw it as Sieaka Stevens—sedition, conspiracy, criminal libel, the whole lot. These phrases and charges are meaningless in African politics, and they are meaningless when we listen to what is said in election campaigns in any country in Africa. Wallace Johnston is out on bail of £700, and the one opposition voice is silenced in the House of Representatives.

There was another representative from the diamond area who was also a little doubtful about independence before the election. What happened to him? He went back and he was tried—an elected representative of the people with a very big majority—by a tribal court, against which there is not appeal, and he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for attacking the paramount chief. I do not know if there is any reference in this new constitution which checks the power of the tribal chief in the tribal court, against which there is no appeal, in regard to the trial of a member of the House of Representatives. It seems to me that there is to be no change in this tribal system.

I know the trade union movement in Sierra Leone very well. I have been in contact with it for many years, and, in its own modest way, my own trade union in this country has helped it. I received a petition from the Sierra Leone Council of Labour, which is a very moderate body, as I stated in the House the other day, and, up till now, has been a nonpolitical body. It has never involved itself in politics at all, but has kept right out. It was purely and simply working for trade unionism, is 30,000 strong, and it has a fine system of wage negotiations.

It sent a protest to me, which I passed on to the Colonial Secretary. What did the protest say? It said that before the present House of Representatives there are certain amendments to the law—the Juries Amendment Ordinance—and it insisted that this means that the system of trial by jury may come to an end. There are three systems of courts in Sierra Leone and the Protectorate. There is the tribal court, trial by jury, with a judge and a jury, and another kind of court with a judge and three assessors. This new ordinance will give the judge appointed by the Prime Minister exclusive control over the courts, with no jury, with no assessors, and with no appeal.

I hope that that will be put right, and I am sure they will put it right. I hope they will read the HANSARD report of this debate, and that the Government of Sierra Leone will think again about this ordinance, which will deny many people, particularly political people and trade unionists, the right to trial by jury or trial by assessors. I hope they will think again before they pass legislation of this nature through the House of Representatives. However, I have received much assurance today from the statement that a general election will take place. This is what worries people like me and many of my hon. Friends on this side of the Chamber who are concerned that the people will get the opportunity of discussing the future of their country and that there will not be imposed on any new African State a single party dictatorship, and that the trade union movement, which has grown to strength and power and great influence under colonial rule, will not lose the privileges it gained even under colonialism in a new independent African State.

Having made these critical observations, which I think just had to be made in the light of the present situation in Sierra Leone, may I say how very much I welcome this Bill, and how very much I enjoy these occasions when we can say to millions of people that, after a certain date, they are free to elect their own Governments and run their own countries in their own way without interference from abroad.

We need to assist Sierra Leone for some time to come. Some of the assistance required is not massive sums of capital investment. From my own experience, I suggest that assistance in small, strategic directions is of great immediate importance to these small African countries whose economy is based on agriculture. They need help to extend their co-operative buying and selling. They want a few technicians to explain to them how to keep the books, how to buy and sell at the right times, how to develop means of mutual aid and self-help, how to run their co-operative banks, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough, East (Mr. Marquand) so rightly said.

These countries need to be shown how to operate credit facilities, so that the farmers' co-operatives can obtain credit for nine months in the year until they harvest their crops. They need advice on the development of small handicraft industries. It is this kind of help, which does not involve hundreds of millions of pounds but goodwill and wise advice, which is needed. It involves sending out people to countries like Sierra Leone who believe in human freedom, who understand the need for mutual aid and self-help, who are dedicated to the job, and who understand the simple needs of African agriculture.

If we can have a continuous flow into Sierra Leone of people like that, there will be no danger of a single-party dictatorship, because out of the co-operatives and trade unions the people will learn democracy. They will learn how to run their own farms, villages and little industries, and out of this experience they will know how to run their own government, and no one party will be able to deny them the rights which they should be assured by this Bill.