Annual report on Northern Rhodesia / Colonial Office.

  • Colonial Office
Date:
[1959]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report on Northern Rhodesia / Colonial Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    situated near the eastern edge of Lake Bangweulu, as a result of which a District Commissioner was injured and a District Assistant severely wounded and property, including a store and a Government rest house, was looted and burnt. The riots were instigated by Zambia adherents and during them four rioters were killed or died of wounds and two were injured. At the subsequent inquiry it was found that the root causes of unrest lay in local and longstanding enmities between the family of the chief and a rival family which formed and led a Zambia branch largely for local political purposes. Following the subsequent arrival of platoons of the Police Mobile Unit order was quickly restored and a riot damage levy was imposed upon all responsible inhabitants of the island. A further incident occurred in the Chinsali District of the Northern Province when, on 7th May, a platoon of the Mobile Unit was called in to assist the native authority to restore law and order at Kasomo village, the headquarters of the female religious leader Lenshina. There had been intermittent trouble in this area for over a year and on the arrival of the platoon a crowd armed itself with weapons and the police, finding them¬ selves surrounded, had to resort to the use of firearms. There were three casualties, none of them fatal, and subsequent investigations indicated that, although Lenshina had been unco-operative throughout, the extent of the disobedience and resistance encountered was due more to the remaining influence in the area of the Zambia African National Congress than to other factors. Apart from the above two incidents conditions in the Territory re¬ mained quiet and in May some of the restriction orders served immediately before the March elections were suspended, subject to the continued good behaviour of the restrictees. The remaining restriction orders were reviewed at regular intervals and by July the situation was such that it was possible to embark upon a phased programme for the release of the remaining restricted persons over a six-month period; this programme was carried out as planned. In the absence from the political scene of those leaders who had given the Zambia movement its violent impetus early in the year there was a period of uncertainty regarding the activities and credentials of African political parties. Firstly there was a split in the African National Congress, and while the two factions were endeavouring to establish their respective positions the African National Independence Party came into being. Later in the year this party was renamed the United National Independence Party and it absorbed the politically insignificant United National Freedom Party which had also been formed. Before the end of the year the United National Independence Party had merged with the splinter group from the African National Congress. The confusion of constantly changing party names and leaders has bewildered the African masses who are now uncertain in which direction they should place their support.
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