Chapter V. COUNCILLORS, CHIEFS AND OFFICIALS
| Published date | 01 October 1956 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1956.tb01298.x |
| Date | 01 October 1956 |
cs.
V. COUNCILLORS,
CHIEFS
AND
OFFICIALS
CHAPTER
V
COUNCILLORS,
CHIEFS
AND
OFFICIALS
25
INTRODUCTION
THE
question whether local councillors should be paid regular salaries
｡ｲｯｾｳ･ｳ
controversy
and
consumes much
thought
and
time in all African
terntories. We
say
this knowing full well
that
in
the
law of most territories
the question
has
already been answered in
the
form of an enactment
that
service
as
ｾ
local councillor
must
be voluntary
and
unpaid.
Yet
we have. reason to
believe
that'
this provision of
the
law is
not
generally accepted,
nor
even under-
stood, in
the
local areas where its impact is felt.
WIn this
chapter
we first set
out
the
salient features of
the
situation in Africa.
ethen briefly describe
the
system in
the
United Kingdom
and
try
to come
ｴｾ
acompromise between
the
opposing points of view. We follow this with a
digression on
the
subject of
payment
of chiefs
and
conclude with areference to
officials.
CONDITIONS
IN
AFRICA
Under
the
native
authority
ordinances
the
customary dues which chiefs,
and sometimes
their
traditional councillors, used to receive from
their
people
here gradually replaced by fixed salaries,
paid
sometimes
out
of central funds
ut usually
out
of
the
native
authority
budget. The customary dues were
fenerally in kind,
not
in cash.
They
were socially recognised
but
were
not
°n:nalised,
and
they
were counter-balanced
by
the
equally unformalised
ｾ｢ｾｧ｡ｴｩｯｮ
of
the
chief to perform traditional ceremonies
and
to provide un-
lilllIted hospitality. Logically, therefore,
the
payment
of a salary to
the
chief
Was
accompanied
by
the
transfer of a
number
of his former obligations to
the
eXpenditure side of
the
local budget. Although
the
regular
payment
of
salaries was intended as a commutation of customary dues in respect of such
ofthe chief's obligations as could
not
be transferred to a budget, there has been
aconsiderable carry-over of
the
old ideas
and
this has often made it difficult
to distinguish
the
gift, as an incident of
the
personal relationship between chief
and subject, from
the
bribe, as an incident of contractual relationship.
Second, therehas, in
the
past,been
no clear distinction made between conciliar
and executive duties.
For
a long time now it has been manifest to all
that
ｗｏｾｫ
for
the
government whether at central or local level, including service on
natIve courts, has earned a cash reward. Executive chiefs,
and
some officials,
fave been appointed local councillors while still performing
the
executive duties
Or
which alone, in theory, they are paid. In post-war central institutions
the
lllembers of most legislative assemblies have been given salaries,
thus
minimising
ｾｮｹ
distinction between conciliar
and
executive duties
that
might have been
rawn in
the
public mind.
ｾｨｩｲ､Ｌ
the
expressions 'public service'
and
'public spirit', which in a con-
Solidated nation like Great Britain can be
taken
at
their face value, require
ｾｕ｡ｬｩｦｩ｣｡ｴｩｯｮ
when used for a country whose population is not
yet
consolidated
ｾｴｯ
anation.
In
such
countries-and
they
include all
the
African
territories-
eexpression 'public service' is more likely to mean service to a group, which
may be as small as
the
family or as large as a tribe
but
is
not
likely to be
any larger.
The
tradition of
mutual
help within this group
may
mean
that
ｾ
lo?al council is regarded by most people as
but
the
rationalisation of this
radItion. So far from this appearing a wrong attitude, it
may
seem to
the
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