SIR,—One could not 'help admiring the frankness and forcefulness with
which Lord Salisbury expressed his imperialistic views in his letter to you last week on 'Trouble in Africa' It opened one's eyes. Accord- ing to him the control of Africa, 'so vital to the West' in their struggle against Communists, is in danger of slipping from the former's hands to the latter's.
This 'control' of Africa must be left in the hands of Africans now. So long as there are men like Lord Salisbury, fighting to snatch (or, rather, re- tain) that control our struggle for independence is far from complete.
The noble Lord refuses to realiSe that the Belgian policy that led to chaos in their African dependencies was not that of 'getting out and getting out quickly,' but that of rigorously denying the inhabitants of the countries whose wealth they were tapping the vital opportunities, particularly in education, for proper development. For how long did the Belgians rule and 'develop' the Congo?
Does the noble Lord third( that African countries should be guided indefinitely? He and those who think like him will do well to realise at once that to us Africans Europeans are first and foremost Europeans in their policies towards Africa, be they capitalist or Communist. Only the most naive African politician can fail to watch every move of yours warily and to regard your African policies with the utmost suspicion and distrust.
STEPHEN °MOOING ARM°
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