25. Mr. President, it is with great pleasure that I congratulate you, on behalf of my Prime Minister and the Government and people of Sierra Leone and as head of our delegation to this Assembly, on your election as President of the twenty-third session of the General Assembly. Your long association with international affairs and your tremendous experience in matters pertaining to this Organization lead us to believe that you will undoubtedly conduct the business of this twenty-third session of the Assembly with great success.
26. We should like at the same time to pay a tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Corneliu Manescu, the outgoing President, who we understand is the first to come from a socialist State. He has done great credit to his country in the statesmanlike and dignified way in which he conducted the last session of the Assembly.
27. We also commend our distinguished Secretary-General, U Thant, whose strength and courage have continued to gain great respect for this Organization and all it stands for. We feel confident that his presence in our midst ensures the maintenance of the principles of fairness and objectivity which the United Nations must continue to preserve.
28. Asan African State, Sierra Leone takes great pleasure in welcoming into this Organization the newly independent African State of Swaziland, whose membership of this Organization marks a step towards the attainment of universal representation. We feel confident that the presence of Swaziland in our midst will be a blessing, not only to Africa in particular, but also to all nations in general.
29. My duty as the first civilian leader of my country’s delegation in two years to this twenty-third session of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization is to express publicly on behalf of my Government and on behalf of our peoples throughout Sierra Leone the relief we feel over our achievement of a peaceful and bloodless return to civilian rule, and to a resumption of the institutions of parliamentary democracy under which we had hitherto lived. To those of you who may not be too familiar with the background of my country’s history, permit me the indulgence of reciting cursorily for your benefit some of the highlights of that history in order to accentuate the reasons for the sometimes seemingly inordinate emphasis which, as a people, we tend to place upon the rule of law and on constitutional forms of Government.
30. If in the eyes of the world we have sometimes appeared to be a people inordinately proud and boastful of our democratic traditions to which we have been heirs for nearly two centuries, it is because we have never wished to be unmindful of our ancient role as the cradle of parliamentary democracy in Africa. Particularly, this is the case in these times when it has almost become a commonplace to regard the African peoples as being inherently
incapable of sustaining those institutions associated with the democratic way of life.
31. Fully twenty-four hours before the Philadelphia Convention of 25 May 1787 was to begin its deliberations, we in Sierra Leone had already begun to exercise ourselves in the art of self-government and in some inchoate practice of representative institutions, no matter how crude or erratic they might now appear in retrospect. Our adherence to the rule of law, to practices—not mere principles—in defence of individual liberties, to respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, to tolerance and respect for all men regardless of race, creed, colour and ideology enshrined in our first Charter of Government of 1787, has now come to be accepted as an almost instinctive part of our way of life. Let me, therefore, crave your indulgence, further, by adverting to the first “Speech from the Throne” to be heard within the chamber of the House of Representatives of my country barely six months ago after an enforced silence of fifteen months — indeed, the first “Speech from the Throne” or State Message to be heard in more than two years in any of our three large Commonwealth West African States.
32. In the “Speech from the Throne", the Acting Governor-General declared, inter alia:
“Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, it is exactly two years since this country had a state opening of Parliament. The events which led to the seizure of power from a constitutionally appointed Government and the suspension of parliamentary rule are well known. My Prime Minister and his Cabinet and all the peoples of Sierra Leone join me in expressing our gratitude to Almighty God for having delivered the nation from military rule. My Government wishes to commend and pay tribute to the warrant officers and the rank and file of the Royal Sierra Leone military forces and the Sierra Leone police through whose valiant intervention a return to constitutional Government has been made possible. Their heroic achievement and their loyalty to the State will go down in history.
“One of the first tasks which have engaged the attention of my Government has been to review the various decrees which were passed during the past fifteen months. You will be asked during this session to consider a number of bills which seek to repeal those decrees which are inconsistent with constitutional government, and to restore the provisions of the Constitution and other Acts of Parliament which had been suspended.
“It is the firm intention of my Government to abide by and maintain the Constitution and the rule of law, to respect the rights of the individual irrespective of race, religion or political opinion, to support an impartial civil service and to uphold at all times the traditions of parliamentary democracy.
“The Electoral Commission, established under the Constitution, will continue in being for the purposes set out therein. My Government will take steps to ensure its impartiality and independence.
“In the conduct of its external affairs, my Government will follow a policy of friendship with all countries through their legitimate governments, irrespective of race, religion or political ideology. My Government will continue to support the principle of respect for the territorial integrity of all States as well as its complement of non-alignment and shall endeavour to judge the actions and policies of all nations objectively. My Government believes in the equality of all men, irrespective of race or colour, and is opposed to any form of racial discrimination.
“My Government subscribes to the principles enshrined in the Charters of the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity. Sierra Leone is a peace-loving country and it will be the constant aim of my Government to work for the preservation of world peace and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means.”
33. It is in this spirit of a renewal and reaffirmation of our dedication to a heritage of liberty, freedom and democracy and to tenets based upon a recognition of the universal fatherhood of God and its concomitant, the universal brotherhood of man, that we today come to this Assembly once again.
34. Pray pretend with us that the recent rude and abrupt interruption of our traditionally peaceful and democratic way of life was no more than a nightmare. It did not last the night.
35. In the seven-year period since my country acceded to statehood, each succeeding delegation to this Assembly has gone on record to affirm and reaffirm our adherence to the principles of the Charter of this Organization and, more recently, to the charter of the Organization of African Unity.
36. On such thorny and hotly debated issues as Southern Rhodesia, the admission of the People’s Republic of China, South Africa with its apartheid and South West Africa questions, the liquidation of the remnants of colonialism everywhere, the tyranny of minorities over majorities and vice versa — on all of these issues the position of my Government remains unchanged.
37. Let me now, with your continued indulgence, turn briefly and more specifically to some of those issues with which my Government is more deeply concerned.
38. First, the Nigeria-Biafra war. It must come as no surprise to Member States of this Organization that this year, in contrast with the preceding two years, my Government places the greatest importance upon the Biafra-Nigeria débâcle rather than upon the continued obstreperous and dastardly acts of the Smith régime in Southern Rhodesia. This is not in any way to suggest that the degree of my Government’s and our people’s disgust and distress over the wanton and inhuman acts of bestiality and murder being perpetrated in that unhappy country — namely, Southern Rhodesia — is any less today than it has always been. However, the fate of the 55 million of our kith and kin in what was once the great and populous Federal Republic of Nigeria but today has been torn apart by internecine strife, fills us with great horror and is to us a matter of the greatest urgency and one which demands full-scale attention by this twenty-third session of the General Assembly.
39. Historical, cultural and sentimental ties apart, the ties of affinity and consanguinity which bind our two peoples — the peoples of Sierra Leone and the peoples of that great Federal Republic — go too far back into history to warrant any lengthy recital from this platform. Hardly a chapter of modern and contemporary Nigerian history can be written or adequately explained without references to modern Sierra Leone history.
40. My Government, therefore, notes with gratitude and satisfaction the current and active efforts being exerted by the Organization of African Unity to bring both sides in the conflict once again around a common table to find ways and means of bringing to an end the bloodshed, famine, hunger and death which continue to denude an already under-populated continent of hundreds of thousands of its potentially useful citizens.
41. My Government has followed with close and studious attention the day-to-day activities at Kampala, Niamey and Addis Ababa in recent weeks. We have noted with pain and regret, however, that the leader on one side of the conflict has felt it inconvenient to avail himself of the rich opportunities which Niamey and Addis Ababa offered him. We continue to hope that it is not yet too late to bring both sides to the conference table.
42. We feel that an immediate cease-fire supervised by neutral observers on both sides of the battle line would save thousands of lives and would open the way for relieving the disastrous famine now existing in Eastern Nigeria. We feel that there are enough arms and ammunition in the whole of Nigeria to endanger even post-war peace-time operations in future, and we would urge them to cease the importation of any more. This would also give time to the leaders of both sides to settle the future of all tribes in Nigeria.
43. With regard to Southern Rhodesia, my Government will continue to regard the illegal Government operating in Southern Rhodesia as a fraud upon the entire African population by a minority of persons of white-settler descent.
44. We would urge upon the United Kingdom Government once again to live up to the expectations of those of us in this Organization in particular, and the world at large, who look up to it to bring about a speedy and just conclusion to the farce in Rhodesia and, through the force of sanctions or otherwise, call a halt to a régime which has no standing in the eyes of civilized humanity.
45. In less euphemistic terms, let me make the position of my Government and delegation clear. The pattern of implementation which the British Government has deemed appropriate and adequate to give force to those sanctions has clearly proved to be altogether ineffective and must be revised and greatly strengthened if Britain is to maintain its reputation as a just arbiter in Africa.
46. The rights of freedom and self-determination are such basic human rights that one is alarmed at the thought that a legitimate demand for the enjoyment of those rights should be met by acts of savagery, carnage, bestiality and murder, such as we are today witnessing in Rhodesia. And what is more, these acts of depredation are being actively condoned, aided and abetted by those nations which speak so glibly about the “free world”.
47. Those States which continue to support the Lisbon-Pretoria-Salisbury axis — that is to say, Portugal, South Africa and Rhodesia — will never know peace in Africa, or indeed in their own countries, as long as they continue to
support tyrannical and feudal régimes.
48. On the subject of South Africa, the spate of words which have issued forth from this chamber on the subject of the Republic of South Africa—vis-á-vis its Government’s unwarranted and unpardonable attitude towards its indigenous African citizens, on the one hand, and its relations with the new African sovereign States, on the other, is already too copious for me to wish to add my own fragile dissertation to an already existent mountain of views and opinions on the subject. My Government deplores as much the apartheid policy of the Republic of South Africa as we do its attitude of outrageous recalcitrance in the comity of nations; not to speak of its blatant defiance of the authority of this Assembly, as well as of the Security Council, on the question of South West Africa (Namibia). The only goal — if not, indeed, the highest goal — which would meet the demands of my Government and the aspirations of all peoples of African descent throughout the continent is that which will ensure full and complete participation of that country’s well over 10 million Africans in the affairs of their country. One would have thought that the lustrous examples of full harmony and co-operation between black and white in all facets of national life in the sister Republics of Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya, in that same geographical zone, would by now have forced a change of policy, if not a change of heart, in South Africa.
49. Instead of a change of heart, the racist minority Government of South Africa, in its determination to keep its indigenous population in a perpetual state of slavery, has passed a whole range of oppressive laws such as the “Suppression of Communism Amendment Act", whereby South Africans opposed to the system of apartheid are labelled as communists; the “Mixed Marriages Act", ensuring that only persons of the same ethnic groups can marry each other — an act contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; “The 180-Day Law”, whereby black South Africans can be arrested and imprisoned for 180 days without trial, and “The Unlawful Organization Act", depriving the indigenous people of South Africa of their simple and basic right to form any organization whatsoever that might improve their social status. These are only a few examples.
50. Let me quote from the report of the United Nations Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on the treatment of prisoners in South Africa:
“Prison conditions are made especially inhuman for non-white prisoners. Food, sanitary conditions, clothing, bedding and accommodation in South African prisons fall short, lamentably, of all international and civilized standards.”
The report goes on to say:
“The apartheid laws and the treatment of political detainees and prisoners is turning or has turned the Republic of South Africa into a police State and the laws and methods in question increasingly resemble those adopted under fascist régimes.”
51. It is all the more revolting to the human mind when one realizes that many of those Western States which criticize South Africa encourage it by keeping its economy booming through trade. More than three-fourths of South Africa’s total imports come from Britain, the Common Market countries, the United States of America and Japan, to whom in return South Africa exports more than two-thirds of its total output of goods. Britain and the United States have investments worth billions of dollars in South Africa, and we feel strongly that this should not be so with declared standard bearers of democracy and friends of independent African States.
52. If I have not felt compelled to catalogue in terms explicit and unequivocal my Government’s feelings of detestation over the atrocious crimes against humanity for which the Republic of South Africa must stand condemned before the bar of world public opinion, it is because I already sense from the corridors and in this chamber the feelings of revulsion which engulf the large majority, if not indeed, all of us assembled here, over the behaviour of this barbaric State. Should a State behaving like this continue to have a seat in this Assembly or maintain diplomatic relations with any self-respecting and civilized State?
53. As regards the question of South West Africa, it will be recalled that Britain had entrusted to South Africa its mandate to govern that Trust Territory. The United Nations recognized the situation and continued to hold South Africa as the Power responsible for that Trust Territory, expecting South Africa, of course, to recognize and carry out the provisions of Trusteeship vis-à-vis the inhabitants of the Territory.
54. The provisions of the United Nations Charter in relation to Trust Territories are well known. These provisions in relation to South West Africa have been consistently flouted by South Africa. South Africa has in fact gone beyond this to implement its abhorrent apartheid laws there which are contrary not only to the visions of the Charter in relation to Trust Territories but also to the provisions relating to human rights. In accordance with the spirit of the Charter, the General Assembly by resolution 2145(XXI) brought to an end the mandate entrusted by Britain to South Africa and by resolution 2248(S-V) established a United Nations Council for South West Africa.
55. However, the Government of South Africa has repeatedly continued to prevent the Council set up by the General Assembly from carrying out its work of administering the country. Mr. Michel Botha, the South African Minister for Bantu Administration and Development, said inter alia on 16 May 1968:
“The Government is not prepared to allow overseas bodies to dictate what it should do about the peoples of South West Africa".
This statement shows South Africa’s repeated determination to flout decisions of this Assembly. My Government is therefore pleased with the steps taken by the General Assembly on 12 June [resolution 2372(XXII)] in asking the Security Council to take effective measures to implement the internationalization of the Territory of Namibia.
56. As regards the Portuguese Territories, at present Portugal allocates 42 per cent of its annual budget to defence purposes; that is to say, defence of its decadent colonial régimes in Africa. The economy of Portugal and its backward position in Europe makes it impossible for it to pursue a colonial war in Africa or anywhere else. The fact remains, however, that thanks to its allies, the NATO Powers, it is carrying out and continues to carry out a ruthless colonial war against Africans in Portuguese Guinea, Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese Foreign Minister, Mr. Franco Nogueira, has stated categorically that Portugal is a vital link in the NATO defence system. Statements by Portuguese ministers indicate clearly that notwithstanding any United Nations resolutions in regard to its colonial policies in Africa, it will continue to receive aid from its allies. It is clear to everyone that without the help of the NATO Powers, Portugal would not last one more day in Africa.
57. In regard to the Security Council, organs of the United Nations charged with the responsibility of ensuring that Non-Self-Governing Territories are liberated have now come up against a deliberate posture assumed by Administering Authorities. This situation gravely threatens the inalienable rights of millions of colonized peoples.
58. The responsibility for peace and security rests squarely on the Security Council and if peace and security are threatened, this Assembly, conscious of the legitimate rights of suffering peoples, should at this session review the whole question of the decolonization process.
59. The dialogue among Member States concerning the legal status of United Nations resolutions has made it difficult to implement them. Member States will have to decide on this matter which is so essential for improving the effectiveness of this Organization.
60. As regards the Middle East, by virtue of those ties of culture and commerce which have long bound the peoples of our countries and the peoples of the Middle East in an almost indissoluble bond of fraternal relations, my Government is compelled to express at all times our equally great concern over events in that part of the world, as that which we are wont to express over events touching any African State. The commercial and cultural links which have bound us to our sister States of the Arab world, we regard as no less tenuous than those spiritual and emotional ties which exist between our country and the Republic of Israel.
61. We have in the past urged, as we shall continue to do, that those two great peoples, Arabs and Israelis, should come early to grips once and for all with the deeper issues of human survival which have always been the prime concern of the two great religions which their respective cultures and civilizations have contributed to mankind.
62. We in the southern half of the great continent which we share with the dynamic Republic of Egypt, and bordering the waters which wash the shores of the Holy Lands, cannot look with indifference upon a situation which threatens not only the survival of the parties directly involved but also the tranquillity and stability of those of us who are their neighbours or who enjoy bonds of fraternal relations with them. In this connexion, our appeal is directed to the great Powers of the East and West, in particular to the Governments of the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, that they reconsider their stance on the matter of the Middle East. We, for our part, shall continue to use all measures available to us — the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity and other forums committed to the exercise of moral suasion, as a means of harmonizing conflicts — to bring about a state of rapport between the two sides. We are dedicated to the task of building bridges of peace and understanding between nations and men.
63. On the subject of the People’s Republic of China, we are almost reluctant to express the view which has been heard within these halls in session after session of the General Assembly for nearly twenty years now, namely, that the world community has been denied the benefit of the "wisdom of the ages” which the great Chinese people have been known to offer to mankind throughout history.
64. My Government would like to ask once again, even if in the same old hackneyed clichés with which members of this Assembly are all too familiar, is it not time that we extend the hand of welcome to the great People’s Republic of China and invite it to occupy the vacant chair which has long been its chair as of right? Or, in a parodied version of that same query put to this august body only a short while ago by His Holiness Pope Paul VI, permit me to ask: “Is there not room enough at this our banquet table for all? ”
65. Year after year, we have come here and voiced our support for adherence to those principles of international law which have long qualified the Government of the People’s Republic of China for a place of equality with other Member States within this Organization. Yet, year after year, we witness those same principles we profess to protect and defend being prostituted where they are not altogether mutilated at the altar of narrow national and ideological prejudices and interests.
66. It is the view of my Government that the time is now ripe for us as Member States of this Organization to act with courage and expeditious dispatch during the current session of the General Assembly to correct this fatal blunder which we have all been goaded to pursue for nearly two decades. The cause of world peace demands no less of us as honourable men and women — delegates and representatives of civilized States.
67. With respect to Korea and Viet-Nam, the concern of my Government over our failure in this Organization to fulfil our obligations to the People’s Republic of China in no way lessens the concern and anxiety we feel over the problems affecting the happiness, welfare and stability of the Korean and Viet-Nam Republics, respectively. We may be the least competent of States, at this juncture in time, to offer any form of counsel, least of all censure, to those powerful external forces whose ideological, military, strategic, economic and other undeclared interests have clearly militated against the settlement of these long-standing feuds between brothers of the same household. The unification of these two countries, Korea and Viet-Nam respectively, which, until less than twenty years ago, were each one and indivisible, their peoples, brothers and compatriots within one common body politic, is as much our concern as is the problem of any African State.
68. The dedication of my Government to the principle of “malice towards none and charity to all”, leaves us with no other option but to join our voices with all peace-loving Member States which, in this Assembly over the years, have sought to arouse the conscience of the two super-Powers of the world, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, to relax the positions they have long held with respect to these two groups of States.
69. Let us spare no energy, relax no effort, until the peace-loving peoples of Viet-Nam and Korea are once again united in their traditional bonds of harmony and fraternity.
70. To conclude, it is my hope as well as the hope of my Government, that as we meet in this Jubilee Year of the great Armistice of 1918, we shall once more renew our affirmation in the sacredness of human life and return to our respective countries to do all that lies in our power as Governments of civilized men to bring about a state of society where peace, justice and security will reign supreme.