Witness Seminar: Localisation of the Civil Service in colonial territories before and immediately after independence

Institute of Commonwealth Studies and OSPA (Overseas Service Pensioners' Association) Witness Seminar: Localisation of the Civil Service in colonial territories before and immediately after independence

Event Programme


Thursday 25 October 2012
In the Senate Room, Senate House, South Block, Malet Street, London. WC1E 7HU

11.00-11.15 Registration, tea/coffee

11.15-11.30 Welcome and introduction by Professor Philip Murphy (ICwS)

11.30-1.00 Session One: Education and Training  
Chair: Dr Tamson Pietsch (Brunel University)

Eric Cunningham: (Education Officer, Gold Coast 1952 – 62) Gold Coast localisation: a long history, and reflections on my own experience.
Professor Michael Lee: (University of Manchester; Seconded to Uganda, and Makerere University College) The contribution of Makerere College to Localisation in East Africa.
Peter Wood: (Tanzania 1957 – 69; Oxford University 1969 – 90, ODA and international consultant; Commonwealth Forestry Association (Vice-President) The role of the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford, in professional education and training.

1.00-2.00 Sandwich Lunch

2.00-3.30 Session Two: Training for the Localisation of Public Administration
Chair: Professor Philip Murphy (ICwS)

Wyn Reilly: (Tanganyika 1956-62; IDPM, University of Manchester. Involved in Public Administration and Training in numerous countries). The Administrative Training Centre, Mzumbe, Tanganyika and management training at IDPM, Manchester and overseas.
Colin Fuller: (Kenya 1956-68; Kenya Institute of Administration, then IDPM, Manchester). Africanisation of the Civil Service in Kenya with special reference to the Administration.
Chris Cochran: (Solomon Islands 1967-82; Public Service Office and then Commissioner for Labour) Localisation of the Public Service in the Solomon Islands 1960-82, either side of Independence in 1978.

3.30-4.00 Tea/coffee


4.00-5.30 Session Three: The Politics of Localisation
Chair: Dr Georgina Sinclair (Open University)

John Ducker: (Aden 1960-67; then with World Bank in Africa and Central Asia). A Comparative Study across the colonies generally.
Simon Gillett: (Served in Cameroons 1960; Bechuanaland/Botswana 1965-72). The political context of Localisation and Government Policies in the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Botswana.
Michael Waters: (Western Pacific –GEIC 1972-76; Hong Kong 1976-97, Civil Service Branch dealing with localisation and handover, and Deputy Political Advisor to the Governor). The security, political and nationality issues affecting Localisation in Hong Kong.

5.30-7.00 Drinks reception

To register and pay online for this event, please click here.

Registration form

Institute of Commonwealth Studies/OSPA Witness Seminars

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies is delighted to announce that the fourth Occasional Paper of the OSPA Research Project at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies has been published.
This Occasional Paper is a written transcript of the proceedings of the ICwS-OSPA Witness Seminar ‘The Westminster Model and Representative Government in the Era of Decolonisation’, which took place on the 25th May 2011. The transcript puts on permanent public record the primary evidence of OSPA members along with other views and experiences of British decolonisation in the 20th century. This publication is available from the Institute of Commonwealth Studies for £5.00.


To order this publication or for further information, please email Robert Kenyon: Robert.kenyon@sas.ac.uk or post a cheque (including your return address and a note on how many copies you are ordering) to:

Robert Kenyon
Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU

Further published transcripts of later Witness Seminars will be made available in due course.


The next ICwS-OSPA Witness seminar is on Localisation of the Civil Service in Colonial Territories Before and Immediately After Independence and will take place on Thursday 25th October 2012.

Event Programme

To register and pay online for this event, please click here.

Registration form

Venue: The Senate Room (Senate House, First Floor)
Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU

For further information, please contact ics@sas.ac.uk