Colonial Administrative System | History Form Three
Colonial
administration were the ways which used by the colonial power to administer the
colonies during the colonial rule in Africa.
The Concepts of Direct Rule, Indirect Rule, Assimilation and Association
Indirect Rule
Indirect rule was an administrative
system which was used by the British to administer the colonial subjects and
colonies through the use of traditional chiefs and kings.
British used this ruling system.
Indirect rule was pioneered by Sir
Fredrick John Lugard who was the British High Commissioner to Nigeria in 1890.
Direct Rule
This was a colonial system of
administration whereby the colonies were governed by Europeans officials at the
top position.
In
Tanganyika, the government ruled through the agents called Akida and Jumbes.
Jumbe and Akidas, collected taxes, administered laws and prepared people for
economic development.
Assimilation Policy
Assimilation policy was an
administrative systems which absorbed the Africans into the citizenship of the
colonizing powers. This policy was used by the French who turned Africans into
black Frenchmen. They turned Africans to be French men by requiring them to
speak French, practice their culture, religion and obey the law which governed
France. They employed many of the assimilated Africans in French colonial
government.
The assimilation policy was first used
in Indo-China and Algeria and later introduced in the four communes of
Senegal-Goree, St. Louis, Rufisque and Dakar-in 1854 and spread to other French
colonies in Africa. The assimilation policy proved to be successful when it was
applied in Morocco. In Senegal the assimilation policy was introduced by Lewis,
a trench governor, between 1854 and 1865.
The Association Policy
This was the system of French colonial
administration that prevailed in the colonies after the failure of the
assimilation policy.
Unlike assimilation, association policy
respected the culture of Africans and allowed them to develop independently,
and did not force them to adapt French culture.
The association had to use the
indigenous elites who were trained in France as administrators to mediate
between fellow Africans and French colonial administrators.
African rulers were used by the colonial
administration to fulfill their demands such as collection of tax, labor
recruitment and maintaining peace and order in their areas. African chiefs who
failed to perform such duties were replaced.
Africans had the right for maintaining
their culture, Examples, of such cultural practices were polygamy and Islamic
religion in West Africa.
Why French Shift From Assimilation Policy To Association
By 1905 French stopped the assimilation
policy. They replaced the system by the new policy – Association policy. The
following are the reasons for the French shift from assimilation to
association.
i.
The policy was opposed by French scholars,
politicians and businessmen. They bought their views that Africans could not be
transformed into Frenchmen. According to them, there was a need to respect
African culture.
ii.
To avoid challenge. France realized that the
policy would deprive the country of its sources of raw materials and labour. If
the Africans had to be treated equally with the whites and enjoy civil rights
they could challenge oppressive policies and decisions which required them to
produce cash crops.
iii.
The policy was very expensive.
iv.
The policy was not supported by the Africans.
Africans criticised the policy because it was based on racial discrimination.
All high rank jobs were given to the Europeans.
v.
The missionaries’ schools built by the
Christian churches were opposed by the Muslims. So the policy failed because it
failed to assimilate all people in the colony.
Weaknesses and impact of assimilation policy
1. The
policy failed make an African a French citizen
It managed to change the person mentally
and morally but the person remained inferior because he remained a black man
who could not even be accepted by fellow Africans who were not assimilated and
would neither be accepted in the European world.
2. It
was too expensive
As the French kept on expanding their
territory in Africa, it was a burden to assimilate more of the Africans
inhabitants since the French government could incur more costs for building
more social facilities such as schools, hospitals, churches and many more.
3. It
arose fears among Frenchmen
In France that the assimilated Africans
could bring economic challenge to them, since they would get equal rights as
other Frenchmen, particularly in trade activities. Thus, they thought of
discrediting the assimilation policy in order to safeguard their own interests.
4. There
was a great gap among Africans
Assimilates were exempted from tax
paying and forced labor because they were considered French citizens, while the
unassimilated were forced to pay tax and were subjected to forced labor.
5. The
African colonies were regarded as part and parcel of France
The assimilation system of
administration considered their colonies as their overseas provinces.
6. French
became an official language in most of African countries that were colonized by
French (Francophone countries).
The reason behind such decision was the
impact of assimilation whereby many Africans were influenced by the French
language.
The Motive for the Application of Indirect Rule
Reasons
which made Europeans to use indirect rule system of administration in Africa
were:
1. The
Europeans did not want to interfere with the African traditional systems of
administration
They
felt that there was no need to intervene in the African traditional system as
long as their needs were met.
2. To
reduce African resistance
The Europeans administrators wanted
their instructions or orders to appear as if they were emanating directly from
the African traditional rulers. This could minimize the number of people who
were fighting against colonial rule because the Africans could think that they
were not under foreign rule.
3. Lack of enough British personnel
British had few European officials who
could not administer the colonies effectively. The chiefs were highly needed to
assist the British.
4. Indirect rule was financially cheap
Traditional leaders were less expensive
than the white’s officials; they only needed petty gifts like old clothes,
chairs, old coats.
5. Language barrier
Local people could not be able to
communicate with the Europeans because they did not know English. Chiefs were
seen as officials who could be understood well by the local population.
6. Physical difficulties of the colonies
Colonialist could not be employed in
remote areas which had think forests, tropical disease, wild animals and lack
of transport. They decided to leave the chiefs who were used to the areas.
The Motive for the Application of Direct Rule
1. Intensive
resistance
The
colonies that had experienced with African resistance during the imposition of
colonial rule forced the colonialist to use direct rule in attempts to suppress
faster African resistance, for example, The Germans were compelled to use
direct rule to imposition of the Hehe, in Swahili traders in Tanganyika, also,
Nama and Herero in Namibia.
2. Presence
of large settler populations
The
colonial state wanted to safeguards the interest of the settlers in setter
colonies to enable them gain ultimate and control over the economies and exploit
valuable African resources such as farms, land and minerals E.g British established
direct rule in Zimbabwe and Kenya to safeguards settlers.
3. Negligence
of the traditional authorities by the colonial administration
The
German, Belgium and Portuguese believed that Africans were inferior and their
Administrative system was very poor.
4. To
provide employment to the Germans
In
order to eliminate the problem of employment in their country, the Germans
decided to use direct rule and bring in many juries who worked in the colonial
government.
The Motive for the Application of Assimilation Policy
Some of the reasons for introducing the
assimilation policy were:
1. Higher percentage of the converted
Christian
It was easy to accept the assimilation
policy applied by the government in their country.
2. French
revolution of 1789
This
revolution overthrew the dictatorship government of King Louis XVI. The
revolution created France which respected the right of man on the principles of
liberty, equality and fraternity. The parliament in Paris made a decision that
all people in the colonies had to be treated equally by the imposition of
assimilation policy.
3. To
avoid resistance
Many
Africans could consider themselves as equal with the Frenchmen in the colony
without knowing that they were under the colonial rule.
4. Frenchmen
wanted to get a class of black Frenchmen who could be used to serve in
different sectors
Example
of those sectors are: education, business and administration.
Similarities of Direct Rule and Indirect Rule
1.
Both
of them aimed at African exploitation.
2.
Both
of them used police force, the prisons, the army and judiciary to suppress
Africans people.
3.
Both
of them had racial discrimination. Europeans were at the top and they got high
ranking jobs in the government. Africans were at the bottom, and held lower
post in local areas.
The Differences between Direct Rule and Indirect Rules
1.
The direct rule did not use the traditional
Africans chiefs as their intermediaries while the indirect rule used the
African chiefs. For example, in Kenya the British used some Kikuyu chiefs as
paramount chiefs, like chief Koinange wa Mbiyu.
2.
The
indirect rule system of administration had less costs of administration unlike
the direct rule that required many Europeans to perform all tasks of
administrations hence high costs of administration.
3.
Direct
rule was characterized by the use of force and racial superiority. For
instance, the Germans considered themselves to be superior to other races.
Brutality was also characteristic of direct rule, whereby Africans were handled
brutally by colonial administrators. On other hand the indirect rule system of
administration used African local chiefs in handling their people and at the
same time performing colonial duties.
The Similarities between the Direct Rule and the Assimilation Policy
1.
Both
the colonial administration system used European officials at the higher
administrative position in their colonies.
2.
Both
colonial systems exploited Africans through tax payment, forced labor
and land alienation also they exploited the African natural resources, such as
minerals, forests and rivers.
3.
Both
colonial administrative system underrated and ignored the traditional African
chiefs.
The Differences between the Direct Rule and the Assimilation Policy
1.
The assimilation policy made the Africans who
were in French colonies to be French citizens and enjoy all republican rights. This
was opposed by the British colonies, whereby no matter what position someone
may hold in a colonial state, still he remained the subject of British colony.
2.
Indirect rule treated all the colonies as
separate entities from metropolitan government while assimilation considered
their colonies as overseas province of France.
3.
Indirect rule gave more powers to the
Africans chiefs more than assimilation policy.
4.
Indirect rule law were passed by governors
while assimilation policy law were passed in Paris and sent to overseas
province for application.
The Differences between the Assimilation and Association Policies
1. The
association policy was a colonial administrative system in which France had to
respect the culture of her colonial people. Assimilation policy on other hand
was the system of administration used by French in which the Africans were
taught how to think and act as French citizens, aiming at colonizing Africans
by transforming them into French citizens.
2. Assimilation
policy was expensive as compared to association.
3. In
the association policy, colonies were regarded as other colonies in Africa and
thus they were not close to the colonial master, while the assimilation policy
the colonies were regarded as their overseas provinces. Thus, the colonies were
closely attached to the colonial master.
4. The
association policy made the Africans to be regarded as second-class citizens,
while the assimilation policy Africans enjoyed the privilege and rights that
governed any French citizen in the metropolis.
Weaknesses Of Indirect Rule
1. Turned
Africans chiefs into puppet
It avoided African
resistance by appointing traditional rulers to rule on their behalf. Hence, all
complaints were directed to traditional African rulers.
2. It
created imbalance of development among African states
Areas which had local chiefs
assisting the colonial government had development on social services like
schools, hospitals and roads while those which had no chiefs in their areas had
no or inadequate social services. For example, in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam is
developed than Njombe.
3. It
created social differences among Africans
The chiefs’ families and
loyal families got privilege of getting social services such as education,
hospitals and many more while the rest of the community were not getting such
facilities.
4. Tribalism
African chiefs who were
entrusted to rule on behalf of colonialists considered their tribes superior
than others. For example, Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda created disunity among
Ugandan when he declared the Buganda kingdom independent in 1960.
5. There
were no democratic process in making the law
As a result was difficult
for Africans to modify unfavorable laws after they had been written up and
declared law by the colonizers.
6. African
chiefs accumulated wealth at the expense of people
Chiefs supported Europeans
exploitation and they worked on their behalf to exploit their fellow Africans.
Strengths of Direct rule
1. solved
the shortage of employment among the European population
Germany offered employment
to her people in the colonies she occupied. Hence, she managed to reduce the
rate of unemployment of her people.
2. The
system managed to suppress resistance
Since it ensured that the
colonies had enough white military officials to safeguard their interests. For
instance, the Abushiri war of resistance of 1888 was suppressed by the German
colonial administration.
Weakness of Direct rule
1. The
use of harsh and brutal means
This were used to make
Africans produce. Their approach led to many sufferings of the Africans that
included death or imprisonment.
2. It
removed the Africans traditional rulers
Chiefs were replaced with
Arab Akidas and Liwalis from the coastal areas.
Colonial Military and Colonial Legal Institutions
Colonial military legal
institution some time refers to colonial state apparatus that were responsible
to protect colonial interests.
They include:
- The army force
- Police force
- Prison/judiciary
Major functions of the colonial military institutions
1. To
defend of colonial boundaries
The colonial administration
ordered their army to fight against their enemies. For instance in 1919, 6th
KAR battalion of the British in Tanganyika fought in World War I in Kalito
(Ethiopia) and another part of it fought in Burma and Sudan.
2. Implemented
land alienation for colonial settlers
Alienated land were used to
start plantation.
3. Suppression
of African resistance
Some Africans reacted very
strongly to colonial leadership so it was the duty of colonial military to
suppress the opposition. This was used as the only way for colonialists to
maintain their administration.
4. Maintaining
peace and order
They prevented crimes in the
colonies. Not only that but they also protected the colonial properties such as
buildings, infrastructure etc.
5. Tax
collection and information
They were responsible for
collecting information and supervising the tax collected in the colony. The
information collected was to be communicated to the colonial masters.
6. Supervision
of public works
Public works included the
construction of infrastructures such as railway, ports, prisons, hospitals,
schools, churches etc. all these had to be supervised by the colonial military.
Colonial legal institutions
The colonial legal
institutions were the colonial organisations that dealt with legal issues.
The legal systems during the
colonial period in many African colonies were led by European judges and
magistrates. It sued and sentenced those who were not affecting the oppressive
colonial laws.
The nature of punishment
administered in the colonial judicial system ranged from fines, caning,
imprisonment and execution. The colonial judiciary system was governed by the
help of:
The Criminal Investigation
Department: This department performed the task of investigating all criminal
reports.
The motorised companies:
Those performed the task of suppressing strikes formed by trade unionists. The
motorised companies were established in 1947.
The militia: This took
charge of collecting taxes and arrested Africans who failed to pay tax or
evaded paying taxes.
The major duties of the
legal institutions were vast. Some of them were to amend laws, acts and
ordinances as they were amended time after time in order to suit the colonial
situation.
Revision Questions
1. Who headed the central
government of the colony?
a) Queen
b) Governor c) Secretary for colonies d) Secretary general e) Minister for
colonies
2. How would you relate the
French assimilation policy and destruction of African culture?
3. Which of the following
functions was performed by African chiefs under indirect rule?
a) Collection of tax b) loading
cash crops into ships c) advising the governor d) promoting internal capital
export e) organizing election of the colonial officials
4. Compare and contrast
British and French systems of administration as practiced in Africa during the
colonial rule.
5. Indirect rule was predominant
in the following regions.
A South Africa, Namibia and
Zimbabwe B Uganda, Nigeria and Tanganyika C Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar D
Zimbabwe, Kenya and Zanzibar E Cameroon, Namibia and Tanganyika
6. Which of the following
was true on French policy of administration in Africa?
A African colonies were to
be independent. B African colonies were to remain with their local ruling institution
and African culture had to be valued. C There were to be separate
administrative laws for the African and Europeans. D The administration of
communes was to be under African whose loyalty was to France. E African
colonies were regarded as an overseas commune of France.
7. Explain six difference
between direct rule and indirect rule.
