The Administration of Towns in the Belgian Congo
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1958.tb01161.x |
| Author | C. A. G. Wallis |
| Published date | 01 April 1958 |
| Date | 01 April 1958 |
95
The Administration
of
Towns
in
the
Belgian
Congo
by C. A. G.
WALLIS
African
Studies
Branch,
Colonial
Office
EARLY
in December 1957 The
Times
reported
that
Europeans
and
Africans were
electing councillors for the eleven newly established communes of Leopoldville
under a new decree aimed at integrating the administrations of
the
hitherto
separate African
and
European districts.
This decree is
dated
26th
March
1957
and
ashort account of its genesis
and
<:ontents class="ls5a ws1d">is given below.
Genesis
When the Congo ceased to be a private estate of the
King
and
became a
Belgian colony in 1908, there were already in existence a
number
of regulations
designed to ensure
the
health, order
and
security of the non-African settlements.
The
Colonial Government
added
piecemeal to these regulations in order to deal
With the new conditions arising from the
gradual
settlement of Africans along-
side the European centres.
By 1945 there
had
developed two different types of
urban
administration.
Leopoldville
had
a single administration for European
and
African areas:
Elizabethville
had
separate administrations for
the
town
proper
(European)
and
the extra-customary centre (African).
The
Leopodville system in practice left
the African areas virtually without organisation while the
dual
system of
Elizabethville gave rise to
an
increasing
number
of administrative difficulties.
After
the
war
a new system began to be sought since the rapidly increasing
urban
population was accentuating these defects.
In
1948
the
Council of
Government-the
highest consultative body in
the
Congo--was presented
with
the
text of a new statute for towns, based on
the
Leopoldville model of a single integrated administration. This system, though
bitterly opposed by the- advocates of the
dual
system, was in the end approved
by a majority. Nevertheless
the
Governor-General considered
that
the
vote was
not decisive
and
that
further study was required.
In
1953 a new text, based
on a new two-tier system,
dual
at
the base
but
integrated at the top, was
accepted after a good deal of discussion.
This last text then fell to be examined in 1954 by the Colonial Council in
Brussels, which remitted it to a special commission for study.
The
commision
by a majority of five to two recommended
that
the Congo proposal should be
modified in a fundamental way.
The
Congo
had
proposed
that
at
the
head
of
ｾ｡｣ｨ
suburban
quarter,
or African centre, there should be placed achiefchosen
rom the local population
and
after consultation with them.
The
commission
ｾ＿ｭｭ･ｮ､･､
that
these chiefs of quarters should be replaced by officials
of
the
ncan
Administration.
The
Colonial Council was divided
and
unable
to recon-
ｾｩｬ･
its differences on this
point
and
sent
the
question back to
the
Congo again
Orfurther examination.
Therefollowed a further
debate
in
the
Council of Government
at
Leopoldville
and the setting
up
of
a new committee.
This
latter
committee
did
not
confine
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