Annual report on Northern Rhodesia / Colonial Office.

  • Great Britain. Colonial Office.
Date:
[1962]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

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

    5/156 (page 3)
    PART I Review of 1962 Copper mining is the economic mainstay of the Territory and has, from the earliest days, been the principal support of the Northern Rhodesia economy. The economy measures taken in recent years by the Govern¬ ment were continued in 1962. Expansion was very strictly controlled and was restricted to essential services. The average price of copper for the month of January, 1962, was £230 per ton. This rose in February to £235 per ton and thereafter re¬ mained steady at approximately £234 per ton for the rest of the year. In the field of industrial relations the comparative peace of the last three years was disturbed by a series of strikes most of which occurred in the mining industry and led to the serious loss to the Territory of over 500,000 man-days—the highest loss experienced since 1958. Although the number of trade disputes continued at a high level, this reflected an extension of the means whereby employees were able to make known their grievances rather than a worsening of industrial relations. More details about industrial relations are given later in this report. In constitutional affairs the early part of the year was occupied with preparations for the introduction of the new Northern Rhodesia Constitu¬ tion announced by Her Majesty’s Government on 28th February, 1962. Although no political party in the Territory was wholeheartedly in favour of the Constitution as finally decided, all agreed to participate in general elections and from March onwards, with the appointment of a Chief Electoral Officer, preparations went ahead for elections to be held in October. A Territory-wide campaign was organised for the registration of voters, and during the three-month period of registration from April to June, the names of more than 130,000 voters, of which nearly 100,000 were new registrations, were placed on the electoral roll. Registration was followed by the delimitation of constituencies carried out during July and August by a Delimitation Commission set up under the Northern Rhodesia (Delimitation Commission) Order in Council, 1962, and consisting of Sir Alistair Forbes, as Chairman, assisted by Mr. Henry Makulu and Mr. William Younger. The Commission completed its work speedily, making its report to the Governor on 3rd September, and under the Northern Rhodesia (Constitu¬ tion) Order in Council, 1962, which had been published on 31st August, the new Constitution came into effect on 11th September, 1962. Shortly afterwards the Governor proclaimed that a general election would be