POLITICS Speech of the Secretary of State for the Colonies at the Official Opening of the Sierra Leone Constitutional Conference on 20th April, 1960 Posted by on Apr 26, 2009, 12:23

In welcoming the Sierra Leone delegates of this Conference I should like first of all wish to apologize for having had to ask your Premier to postpone the Conference for three weeks in view of the necessity of my paying a visit to Central Africa.  I realize very well that this postponement must have entailed a good deal of inconvenience and I am most grateful to the Premier for the understanding way in which he accepted the need for deferment.

It is my misfortune not to have visited Sierra Leone, yet but I know that your country has a proud history and that our two countries have enjoyed a long and happy association, and I feel sure these happy relations will continue as Sierra Leone advances towards its destiny of independence.

We meet under the shadow of the tragic death of Mr. E.A. Waldock the Administrative Secretary, and I am sure that the Conference will wish to express their sympathy with his wife and family.  I am very sorry, too, to hear of the illness of your Attorney-General, Mr. Spurling who would otherwise have attended this Conference. I would like, as my predecessor did when welcoming the delegates to the last constitutional conference held at the end of 1957, to pay tribute to the orderly and systematic advance achieved by Sierra Leone on the constitutional field both our Governments can, I think, be justly proud of this.  The first form of British administration in Sierra Leone as in India was under Company rule.  Since that time you have progressed through the normal pattern of colonial administration to the advanced status that you now have under the present Constitution.

Since the war, there has been very considerable progress achieved.  As far back as 1951 there was a large unofficial majority in the Legislative Council and an unofficial majority also in the Executive Council.  In 1956 the franchise was extended throughout the territory and a fully representative Legislature, renamed the House of Representative, was established in 1958 my predecessor, in approving the proposals for changes in the composition and functions of the Executive Council, as a result of which an All-African Cabinet under the presidency of the Governor was created, stressed the need for it to be followed by a period of consolidation and stability.  He said this, because he was very conscious of the many varied and complex problems affecting your country, problems which would call for the exercise not only of wisdom and knowledge but of courage to take politically unpopular decisions.

No one can doubt that this test has been passed and the time is now known that Mr. Lennox-Boyd was impressed with the spirit of determination with which Ministers had tackled their problems when he visited Sierra Leone in June last year.  He was impressed with the deep and evident desire of all parties for independence.  At that time he told Ministers that it seemed to him of independence with the Commonwealth, and agreed that it would be further changes in the Constitution early in 1960.Let me say here and now that I recognize the strength of your aspirations on the attainment of independence at an early date.  It was in that spirit that I issued an invitation to your Government to send an all party delegation to these talks. 

In my communication to the Governor I referred to a number of important issues which would have to be carefully examined.  I emphasized that the attainment of national sovereignty would bring with it increased responsibilities in both the international and domestic sphere, and that the Conference would provide a forum for discussing all the problems that would require solution if the welfare and progress of the people safeguarded.  That agreed to now without further ado.  What we have to do is to look at the problems that will then face you, and in the light of our examination of them, see whether we can agree on the date, and the measures that must be taken before hand.  Let me say I am confident we will be able to agree together on these matters.

I would like however to utter a word of warning.  In discussing your problems I realize that it is impossible to ignore the swiftly changing African scene, where political developments, almost breathtaking in their speed are transforming the African picture.  I realize that these percussions, in Sierra Leone.  But I would urge that we should not allow them to blind us to the very real and special problems of Sierra Leone, which must be given their true weight in deciding upon what is best for the future. 

Each country has its own peculiar problems and difficulties, and yours is no exception to the rule.  It will have to husband its resources in wealth and manpower as carefully as possible if it is to play as I am sure it will, a worthy role as a fully independent state.  I am glad to see that it is your Government’s wish to encourage members of the Overseas Civil Servants to stay on, and this is one of the matters which we will have to discuss in our deliberation.  We have a busy time in front of us during the next ten days or so, and I understand that over the last few weeks the leaders of all the main parties have agreed to form a united front in putting forward your proposals.  I think that this in itself should help to save spending time in the discussion of local controversial issues which I feel sure you can settle more satisfactorily back in Sierra Leone than in the Conference Room here.