Whitehall and Seretse
Nothing Government spokesmen say, and they do little but say the same things over again, is calculated to rally public opinion in support of their action in regard to Seretse Khama and the chieftain- ship of his tribe. Almost every argument Mr. Gordon-Walker bsed in the House on Tuesday night is vulnerable. He spoke of securing the unity of the tribe by suspending (for five years) the recognition of Seretse as chief ; all the evidence is that the Government's action has consolidated tribal support behind Seretse as nothing else could. He argued that it had not been, decided whether the tribe would accept Seretse's heir by a white woman as a future chief. There t is certainly no evidence that it would not. But in any case the heir is not yet born (the coming child is as likely to be a girl as a boy) and at best he will not be an age for chieftainship for a couple of decades yet. Who, in view of the spread of education and civilisation in Africa, can possibly foresee what conditions will be in Bechuanaland in 1970 ? None of this begins to convince. Much more significant are the protests coming from coloured populations as far afield as the West Indies. The Government, having taken a wrong step, seems determined not to reverse it. The fruits of its perversity have yet to be harvested, and no one can view the prospect without grave anxiety.
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