The Introduction of Bureaucracy into African Polities
| Published date | 01 July 1960 |
| Date | 01 July 1960 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1960.tb00175.x |
| Author | Raymond Apthorpe |
The Introduction
of
Bureaucracy into African Polities
by
RAYMOND
APTHORPE
Sociologist,
Rhodes-Lioingstone
Institute
FOREWORD
by H. A.
FosBRooKE
Director,
Rhodes-Lioingstone
Institute
IWAS very pleased when
the
editor
of
this
Journal
sought permission to
reproduce
Raymond
Apthorpe's introduction to the proceedings
of
the
Rhodes-Livingstone Institute's
Thirteenth
Conference.
For
not only has. this
introduction considerable
merit
in itself, bringing together the long and varied
experience
of
the
group
of
administrators
and
social scientists who
contributed
to the conference deliberations; more
important,
it marks
the
entry
of
the
author
into a fresh field of enquiry.
For
the
Institute
has entrusted Dr.
Apthorpe
with
the task
of
conducting atwo-year project
of
acomparative study of indi-
genous political systems in
Central
Africa,
and
of
their
adaptation
to modern
conditions.
The
present article well illustrates how the position in one
area
can
be
appreciated more fully when compared with conditions prevailing in neigh-
bouring areas.
This
Journal
in itself forms a well stocked treasure house of
administrative experience in this field.
In
Tanganyika
alone I
can
recall
Winnington-Ingram
(1950)1 on the
North
Mara
District, Meek on the Arusha
(1950)2
Dudbridge
and
Griffiths (1951),3
Shaw
(1954)4
and
later
Liebenow
(1959)5 on the
Sukuma,
Johnston
(1953)6
and
once
again
Liebenow (1958)7
on
the Chagga,
and
Mather
on the Nyakusa (1957)8.
The
diversity of the indigenous foundations on which these administrators
were building is
quite
remarkable;
the
Bantu
Chagga with their tradition of
small scale
but
highly organized chiefdoms, the Bantu-Masai
admixture
of
the
Arusha organized on
an
age-grade system,
the
admixture
of
Nilotic
Jaluo
and
Bantu-Hamitic
Kuria
in
North
Mara,
and
the Nyakusa of
Rungwe
District with
their
unique
age village system.
It
is
not
unlikely
that
the divergences
of
these
groups form the accepted hierarchical norm on which systems
of
indirect rule
were traditionally built
not
only posed problems
of
unusual complexity,
but
also challenged administrators to set
about
solving such problems. Luckily for
us they were also moved to write
about
them.
There
must be
many
other
serving or retired officers who have been presented
with similar problems
but
have by force of circumstances or by false modesty
been prevented from writing
about
them.
It
is hoped
that
the
publication
of
this article will stimulate such people to record their experiences
of
such
problems in this
Journal,
or should they feel their material is insufficiently
complete for publication, to correspond
with
Dr.
Apthorpe
at
the Rhodes-
Livingstone Institute, Box 900, Lusaka,
Northern
Rhodesia.
***
1J.A.A. Vol.
II,
No.2,
p. 10.
2j.A.A. Vol.
II,
No. 3, p. 21.
3J.A.A. Vol.
III,
No. 3, p. 141.
4J.A.A. Vol. VI, NO,4, p. 171.
5J.A.A. Vol.
XI,
No.2,
p. 84.
6j.A.A. Vol. V, NO.3, p. 134.
7J.A.A. Vol. X,
No.2,
p. 71.
8J.A.A. Vol.
IX,
NO.4, p. 182.
12
5
To continue reading
Request your trial