Rural Local Government Training in Northern Rhodesia
| Date | 01 April 1961 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1961.tb01264.x |
| Author | A. G. North |
| Published date | 01 April 1961 |
Rural
Local
Government
Training in
Northern
Rhodesia
AN
ACCOUNT OF
THE
WORK
OF
THE
NATIVE
AUTHORITY
DEVELOPMENT
CENTRE,
CHALIMBANA
by
A.
C.
NORTH
District
Officer
IN
Northern
Rhodesia,
rural
local government training is carried
out
at
two
different levels.
On
the
lower level the eight Development Area
Training
Centres situated in the provinces provide courses
with
a local
and
practical bias,
whilst ahigher level of training is provided for
the
whole territory by the Native
Authority
Development Centre situated
at
Chalimbana
32 miles
due
east
of
Lusaka.
This
article concerns the work of this
Centre
which was established in
1951 to provide central training facilities for chiefs
and
councillors from all
parts
of
the territory.
In
recent years the work
of
the
Centre
has been
expanded
to
include regular courses for
both
European
and
African civil servants as well as a
new series
of
courses for leading African business
men
and
farmers.
The
origin
and
history
of
the
N.A.D.C.
The
history
of
chiefs' training in
Northern
Rhodesia dates
back
to 1939
when
the first experimental course for chiefs was held
at
the
Jeanes
Training
School,
Chalimbana
under
the auspices of the African
Education
Department.
This
course, which set the
pattern
for subsequent courses, lasted for six months
and
included such subjects as local history
and
geography, civics, agriculture,
hygiene, village
improvement
and
rural development. Emphasis was laid
on
practical work
and
the afternoons were spent in
the
school vegetable
garden
or
on some project in
the
model village. A feature
of
these early courses was
the
combined
lectures
and
discussions held
with
the
chiefs
and
the
Jeanes
super-
visors in training. By 1943 two courses
per
year,
each
for twelve chiefs
and
lasting for four months, were being held.
The
latter
part
of
the course was
devoted to visits to the
Copperbelt
and
other
places
of
interest.
In
1946 for
the
first time adistrict officer was seconded for a few weeks to
lecture
on
various aspects
of
native
authority
administration, finance
and
courts.
This
represented
the
first
attempt
to give specific
training
in local
government
subjects as opposed to educational
and
civics subjects
which
formed
the
bulk
of
the syllabus.
In
1947 a
number
of
traditional councillors were included on
the
course together
with
the
chiefs.
In
1948,
with
new ideas
of
local government
abroad,
the Provincial
Com-
missioners' Conference discussed
the
question
of
training for
the
native
auth-
orities
and
recommended:
"
...
the
expansion
of
the existing courses for chiefs
and
councillors
at
Chalimbana
to provide instruction in local affairs
and
in
particular
financial affairs for members
of
African local
government
bodies
and
their employees." These recommendations were
later
endorsed by
the
Admin-
istrative Conference
of
1948
which
decided
that
aseparate African Local
Government
School should be established
at
Chalimbana
with adistrict
officer"
in charge coming
under
the
general control
of
the Secretary for Native Affairs.
This
decision
then
marked
the
end
of the first phase in which the African
Education
Department
had
carried
out
the pioneering
work
in a new field
of
training
and
laid the foundation for future developments. Besides providing a
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