EAST AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION*
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1953.tb00979.x |
| Published date | 01 April 1953 |
| Date | 01 April 1953 |
| Author | A. I. Richards |
62 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN
ADMINISTRATION
EAST AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON COLONIAL
ADMINISTRATION*
By Dr. A. 1. Richards.
Many
of those who have attended the Cambridge Conferences on Colonial
Administration
must
have wished
that
the same kind of meetings could be
organised from time to time in an African context, so that the discussions could be
focused on particular regions and specific problems, while retaining the same
spirit of scientific enquiry and the same joint discussions by administrators and
academic research workers.
An experiment of this kind was made by the East African Institute of Social
Research in June 1952 at Makerere College, Kampala, the headquarters of the
Institute. Here the anthropological research staff had been working for two years
on studies of present-day political systems in the three East African territories
and
they had accumulated material ready for discussion. A new College hostel
had recently been completed and it was possible to arrange for common meals in
its dining hall.
It
was therefore decided to invite administrators from each of the
areas where the anthropological field-workers were stationed together with
representatives from each Government.
A specific subject was chosen for the discussion and one that was apparently of
a local and strictly practical interest, viz.
"The
Present-day Position of Lower
Chiefs"
(village headmen, parish chiefs, clan elders, etc.).
This
subject was
selected because the existing literature makes scant reference to lower authorities
compared with the attention given to the position of chiefs, sub-chiefs and councils
on the higher level.
It
was also thought to be a subject to which anthropologists
could usefully contribute, since most of their work is done on a small-scale village
level.
It
was planned
that
adistrict commissioner in each territory covered should
describe the constitutional position in the area and
that
the anthropologist should
speak as an observer on the village level of affairs."
The
discussion soon showed
that
in spite of its unpretentious title the Conference
of twenty-six members was, in fact, engaged on very fundamental issues.
The
tribes described included the Baganda, the Basoga and the Bahaya, with their
highly organised and traditional central governments, together with more backward
tribes such as the Baarnba, a primitive people living in more or less independent
village units
under
the rule of the more highly organised Batoro, and the Zinza
living in a poverty-stricken area in Biharamulo and split up into chiefdoms of a
heterogeneous composition. Areas in Kenya
under
the rule of
executive"
chiefs"
directly appointed by the Government with local native councils of a modern type
were also considered.
In spite of the differences in the political structure of these tribes there appeared
to be many common features. Lower chiefs who are mainly heads of villages,
clans or lineages, or land-owners, are acting as in the past as informal arbitrators
in disputes, leaders in economic activities and, in times of crisis, figureheads and
hosts of official and unofficial guests. Nowadays they have to add to their duties
tax collection and the enforcement of orders passed on to them from higher
administrative authorities, British and African, as well as those of senior and junior
technical officials in the departments of agriculture, health and education. Lower
chiefs also act as essential links between the villages and other local groups and the
"'Copies
of
the
Report
of
the
Conference are obtainable from the
East
African
Institute
of Social Research,
Makerere
College,
P.O.
Box 262,
Kampala,
Uganda,
price 2s.
plus
postage.
IThere
were
present
from
Kenya
two administrative officers
and
two anthropologists,
from
Tanganyika
three
administrative officers
and
four
anthropologists,
and
from
Uganda
seven administrative officers
and
eight anthropologists.
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