Monckton Commission

Last updated
The three territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.png
The three territories of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

The Monckton Commission, officially the Advisory Commission for the Review of the Constitution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was set up by the British government under the chairmanship of Walter Monckton, 1st Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, in 1960. Its purpose was to investigate and make proposals for the future of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (or Central African Federation), made up of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland—respectively equivalent to today's Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. [1]

Contents

Members

The Commission had 20 members, appointed as representatives of six different interest groups: [2]

Conclusion of the Report

The Commission concluded that the Federation could not be maintained except by force or through massive changes in racial legislation. It advocated a majority of black African members in the Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesian legislatures and giving these territories the option to leave the Federation after five years. [3] [4]

Released in October 1960, the report advocated sweeping changes to be made to the federal structure, including black African majorities in the Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesian legislatures. The Federal Prime Minister Sir Roy Welensky was outraged when the report was published, calling it the "death knell of federation" and rejecting it out of hand. [5] Black nationalist opinion was just as opposed, but on different grounds. All nationalists wanted an end to federation, and independence for the territories as black-majority-ruled states.

The Monckton Commission toured the Federation in February 1960. It had been given limited terms of reference and was boycotted by the opposition Labour Party and the black nationalists in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. As the Commission's composition seemed weighted towards a continuation of the Federation, its report disappointed the British government. The Monckton Commission reported widespread and sincere opposition to the Federation in the two northern territories. It considered Federation could not survive without at least a major devolution of powers to Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, giving more voting rights to black Africans and lessening racial discrimination. Most importantly, it also recommended that Britain should retain the right to allow the secession of either northern territory, recognising that black nationalists would not accept even a modified Federation.

The British government broadly accepted Monckton's report, and this signaled a withdrawal of support for the Federation and the acceptance of early majority rule for Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. Accordingly, and despite opposition from Sir Robert Armitage, the Governor of Nyasaland, from the Governments of the Federation and of Southern Rhodesia, and from some colleagues in the cabinet, Colonial Secretary Iain Macleod released Hastings Banda from detention on 1 April 1960 and immediately began to negotiate with him on Nyasaland's constitutional future. The state of emergency was lifted on 16 June 1960. [6] The Malawi Congress Party was formed in 1959 as the successor to the banned Nyasaland African Congress, with Banda as leader. Following an overwhelming Malawi Congress Party victory in August 1961 elections, preparations were made for Nyasaland's independence, which was achieved on 6 July 1964 under the name Malawi. [7]

Conference to review the Federal Constitution

The Federation was created under a British Act of Parliament of 1953 which made provision for a conference to be held at some time during the period 1960 to 1962 to review the Federal Constitution. The United Kingdom and Federal Government and the governments of the three constituent territories were to be represented, and any Federal Bill to amend the Constitution required the votes of two-thirds of the members of the Federal Assembly and had also to gain the assent of the United Kingdom parliament before becoming law. If the such proposed amendment were objected to by one or more of the territorial Legislatures, the British government could not override that objection if either House of Parliament resolved to accept it. [8]

Following the report of the Monckton Commission, which suggested an early conference on the Federal Constitution, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir stated the British government’s position on the future of the Federation. He accepted that it had no power to intervene in the internal affairs of Southern Rhodesia, but said that Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland remained the British government’s responsibility. Kilmuir also stated that the Act of Parliament that created the Federation expressly reserved to the British parliament the right to make such provision for the Federation’s future as it saw fit. [9]

It had been agreed between the British and Federal governments in 1957 that a Federal Review Conference on future of Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland would be held in 1960, and this began in London, on 5 December 1960. However, the Federal talks were suspended on 16 December 1960 so that talks could be held on constitutional developments in two of the three constituent territories. These continued until February 1961, but did not include Nyasaland, as Hastings Banda, who only attended the conference with extreme reluctance, walked out on 12 December. The talks also failed to produce a workable constitutional solution for Northern Rhodesia; Banda’s success in the Nyasaland elections of August 1961 made it inevitable that Nyasaland at least would leave the Federation. [10]

The conference did little except to make clear the views of Banda for Nyasaland and Kaunda for Northern Rhodesia that Africans in the northern two territories wanted to leave the Federation, and of Joshua Nkomo that the African majority in Southern Rhodesia wanted majority rule. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyasaland</span> British protectorate from 1907 to 1964

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Rhodesia</span> 1911–1964 British protectorate in Africa

Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia. It was initially administered, as were the two earlier protectorates, by the British South Africa Company (BSAC), a chartered company, on behalf of the British Government. From 1924, it was administered by the British Government as a protectorate, under similar conditions to other British-administered protectorates, and the special provisions required when it was administered by BSAC were terminated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Rhodesia</span> British colony from 1923 to 1964 and from 1979 to 1980

Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as south Zambesia until annexed by Britain at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company, for whom the colony was named. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Moçambique (Mozambique), and the Transvaal Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Welensky</span> Northern Rhodesian politician (1907–1991)

Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

The Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) was an organisation that evolved into a political party in Nyasaland during the colonial period. The NAC was suppressed in 1959, but was succeeded in 1960 by the Malawi Congress Party, which went to on decisively win the first universal suffrage elections in 1961, and to lead the country to independence as Malawi in 1964.

Dunduzu Kaluli Chisiza (8 August 1930 – 2 September 1962), also known as Gladstone Chisiza, was an African nationalist who was active in the independence movements in Rhodesia and Nyasaland, respectively present-day Zimbabwe and Malawi.

Henry Masauko Blasius Chipembere was a Malawian nationalist politician who played a significant role in bringing independence from colonial rule to his native country, formerly known as Nyasaland. From an early age Chipembere was a strong believer in natural justice and, on his return in 1954 from university in South Africa, he joined his country's independence struggle as a nationalist strategist and spokesman. In 1957, considering that the independence movement need such a strong leader similar to Kwame Nkrumah, and considering himself too young for this task, he joined with other young nationalists in inviting Hastings Kamuzu Banda to return to Nyasaland as the movement's leader.

Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones, was a British colonial administrator in Southern Africa. He was the last governor of Nyasaland from 1961 until it achieved independence in 1964. He served as the only governor-general of Malawi from 1964 until it became a republic in 1966. In 1964, he was appointed a GCMG.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland</span> British territory from 1953 to 1963

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It existed between 1953 and 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1961 Southern Rhodesian constitutional referendum</span>

A constitutional referendum was held in Southern Rhodesia, then a constituent territory of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, on 26 July 1961. The new constitution was approved by about 66% of those who voted; turnout was 77%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Perceval Armitage</span> British colonial administrator (1906–1990)

Sir Robert Perceval Armitage was a British colonial administrator who held senior positions in Kenya and the Gold Coast, and was Governor of Cyprus and then of Nyasaland during the period of decolonisation.

The Devlin Commission, officially the Nyasaland Commission of Inquiry, was a Commission of Inquiry set up in 1959 under the chairmanship of Mr.Justice Devlin, later Lord Devlin, after African opposition to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, particularly its farming and rural conservation policies, and demands for progress towards majority rule promoted by the Nyasaland African Congress under its leader Dr Hastings Banda led to widespread disturbances in Nyasaland and some deaths. A state of emergency was declared in March 1959; about 1,300 people, many of whom were members of the Nyasaland African Congress party, were detained without trial, over were 2,000 imprisoned for offences related to the emergency and the Congress itself was banned. During the State of Emergency and the week preceding it, a total of 51 people were killed by troops or the police. Although the four members of the Commission were members of The British Establishment, its findings were highly unfavourable to the Nyasaland Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bledisloe Commission</span> 1937–9 Royal Commission examining the potential Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

The Bledisloe Commission, also known as the Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission, was a Royal Commission, appointed in 1937 and undertaking its enquiries between 1937 and 1939. to examine the possible closer union of the three British territories in Central Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. These territories were to some degree economically inter-dependent, and it was suggested that an association would promote their rapid development. Its chairman was Lord Bledisloe.

William John Harper was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia from 1962 to 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born into a prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family in Calcutta, Harper was educated in India and England and joined the RAF in 1937. He served as an officer throughout the Second World War and saw action as one of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain, during which he was wounded in action. Appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, he emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the Air Force two years later.

The Armitage Report was a report into the actions of the Nyasaland government in declaring a State of Emergency in March 1959 and actions of the police and troops in the aftermath of that declaration. It was supposed to have been a despatch prepared in Nyasaland by the Governor of that protectorate, Robert Perceval Armitage, but was in fact prepared in London by a working party that included Armitage, British government ministers and senior Colonial Office officials, in an attempt to counteract various criticisms contained in the Report of the Devlin Commission. Both reports accepted that a State of Emergency was necessary in view of the level of unrest in Nyasaland, but the Armitage Report approved of the subsequent actions of the police and troops, whereas the Devlin Report criticised their illegal use of force and stigmatised the Nyasaland government's suppression of criticism as justifying it being called a "police state". Although the Armitage Report was used by the government of the day to discredit the Devlin Report initially, and to justify its rejection of many of the Devlin Commission's findings, in the longer term the Devlin Report helped to convince the British Government that the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was not acceptable to its African majority and should be dissolved. Devlin was vindicated and approached for advice on constitutional change, but Armitage was seen as an obstacle to progress and asked to leave Nyasaland prematurely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Beadle</span> Rhodesian lawyer and politician

Sir Thomas Hugh William Beadle, was a Rhodesian lawyer, politician and judge who served as Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia from March 1961 to November 1965, and as Chief Justice of Rhodesia from November 1965 until April 1977. He came to international prominence against the backdrop of Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in November 1965, upon which he initially stood by the British Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs as an adviser; he then provoked acrimony in British government circles by declaring Ian Smith's post-UDI administration legal in 1968.

Operation Sunrise was the name given to a police and military action conducted by the authorities in the Central African protectorate of Nyasaland which started on 3 March 1959, initially to detain and intern 350 individuals who were considered a potential threat to law and order in anticipation of the declaration of a State of Emergency. Although it is sometimes considered to involve only the incidents of 3 March, the Devlin Commission report is clear that it was one of two distinct operations by the security forces, reinforced from outside Nyasaland, involving the arrest and detention members of the Nyasaland African Congress. It involved not only those members of Congress initially arrested, but others arrested and detained without trial in the course of the emergency. The operation was described in some detail in the Devlin Commission report and that account has been amplified by Colonial Office documents not made available to the Devlin Commission.

The Southworth Commission was a Commission of inquiry appointed by the governor of the British Nyasaland Protectorate to investigate allegations of police brutality against demonstrators protesting against the State of Emergency that the governor had declared in February 1959. The demonstration took place during the visit of the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan to Blantyre in January 1960 as part of his African tour, and was witnessed by British and other journalists, some of whom made allegations against senior European police officers. The inquiry cleared the police of brutality but went beyond its terms of reference by heavily criticising several British correspondents for distorting events.

The Nyasaland emergency of 1959 was a state of emergency in the protectorate of Nyasaland, which was declared by its governor, Sir Robert Armitage, on 3 March 1959 and which ended on 16 June 1960. Under the emergency powers that operated during the Emergency, over 1,300 members or supporters of the Nyasaland African Congress (Congress) were detained without trial, and most of the party's leaders including its president, Dr. Hastings Banda, were imprisoned in Southern Rhodesia after being arrested on 3 March. Many other Africans were jailed for offences related to the Emergency, including rioting and criminal damage. In the week before the Emergency was declared and during its first month, over 50 Africans were killed and many more wounded by the colonial security forces, which included many European troops from Southern Rhodesia. Others were beaten by troops or armed police or had their huts destroyed and their property seized during punitive operations undertaken during the Emergency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malawi–Turkey relations</span> Bilateral relations

Malawi–Turkey relations are foreign relations between Malawi and Turkey. The Turkish ambassador in Lusaka, Zambia is also accredited to Malawi. Malawi is accredited to Turkey from its embassy in Berlin, Germany. Turkey has plans to open an embassy in Lilongwe.

References

  1. ↑ "THE MONCKTON COMMISSION REPORT (Hansard, 16 November 1960)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 16 November 1960.
  2. ↑ CENTRAL AFRICA (ADVISORY COMMISSION), Hansard 24 November 1959.
  3. ↑ R Blake, (1977). A History of Rhodesia, Knopf P.331. ISBN   0-394-48068-6.
  4. ↑ P Murray, (2005). British Documents on the End of Empire: Central Africa, Part I, Volume 9, pp.lxxiv-v, lxxx. ISBN   978-0-11290-586-8
  5. ↑ Collapsing Bastion (24 October 1960), Time Magazine; accessed 21 May 2007.
  6. ↑ C Baker, (1997). Nyasaland, 1959: A Police State? Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 23–4.
  7. ↑ J McCracken, (2012) A History of Malawi, 1859–1966, pp. 367–9.
  8. ↑ G H Baxter and P W Hodgens, (1957). The Constitutional Status of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, International Affairs, Vol. 33, No. 4, p. 445
  9. ↑ J J B Somerville, (1963). The Central African Federation, International Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 3, p. 394-5
  10. ↑ J J B Somerville, (1963). The Central African Federation, International Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 397-8
  11. ↑ J J B Somerville, (1963). The Central African Federation, International Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 3, p. 399
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.