Pan-African opinion legitimized Britain’s refusal of N.F.D. secession

Evidence

The Somali Republic’s concentration of interest on the N.F.D. issue during the three years since independence had proved singularly unrewarding. Not only had the specific objective of union with her kinsmen in Kenya eluded her grasp, but also, in the process, the Republic had been manœuvred into a position of unenviable isolation in the Pan-African world. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 484 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

This was that evidence had been collected ‘on the premise that there can be no question of secession before Kenya gets independence’. This assumption derived, apparently, from the Commissioners’ confidential instructions. It was not included in the previous Colonial Secretary’s announcement of the decision to set up the Commission made at the Kenya conference, and it appeared to be in conflict with the undertaking given then that a decision would be taken before Kenya became independent. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 476 (#complicates, via linked claim)

These and other circumstances made it more and more attractive for the British government to pass over the Colonial Secretary’s assurance and to incline towards the position of the Kenyan nationalists. Hence Britain’s line was now to stress that part of her stated policy on Somali unification which held that in the case of the present dispute nothing could be decided without the consent of the government of Kenya. — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 470 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Britain-Somalia rupture could have been avoided had London heeded N.F.D. reports; The N.F.D. commission was secretly instructed to rule out pre-independence secession; Britain placed the N.F.D. into Kenya’s regional constitution, rejecting secession (+6 more)

Related

• Britain shifted to insisting Kenyan consent governed the N.F.D.’s fate (similarity 0.94)
• The N.F.D. commission was secretly instructed to rule out pre-independence secession (similarity 0.94)
• Britain placed the N.F.D. into Kenya’s regional constitution, rejecting secession (similarity 0.92)
• The Britain-Somalia rupture could have been avoided had London heeded N.F.D. reports (similarity 0.90)
• British reversal on the N.F.D. stemmed from Anglo-Ethiopian relations and Kenyan pressure (similarity 0.90)
• The N.F.D. fixation left Somalia isolated in Pan-African politics (similarity 0.89)
• Britain secretly precluded NFD secession before Kenya’s independence (similarity 0.87)
• N.F.D. Somalis sought autonomy from Kenya to unite with the Somali Republic (similarity 0.85)
• The NFD demanded the same self-determination Britain granted British Somaliland (similarity 0.85)
• Northern Somali public opinion most intensely pressed the government on the N.F.D. issue (similarity 0.85)
• N.F.D. Somalis comprised 62 percent and nearly unanimously backed secession (similarity 0.84)
• Kenyan parties opposed Somali secession for fear of tribal separatism and with Ethiopian backing (similarity 0.83)
• Britain’s indecision, not Somali haste, caused the Anglo-Somali rupture (similarity 0.83)
• Somalis framed unification as both Pan-Somali and Pan-African in principle (similarity 0.82)
• Macmillan’s 1960 pledge seemed to promise the NFD self-determination (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Britain secretly precluded NFD secession before Kenya’s independence #complicates (0.60) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 476
• The N.F.D. fixation left Somalia isolated in Pan-African politics #qualifies (0.60) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 484
• Britain shifted to insisting Kenyan consent governed the N.F.D.’s fate #complicates (0.55) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 470
• Pan-Somali nationalism forced British Somaliland into sudden premature independence #exemplifies (0.50)
• British indecision, not Somali haste, caused the diplomatic breach #complicates (0.50)
• Northern Somali public opinion most intensely pressed the government on the N.F.D. issue #corroborates (0.50) — I.M. Lewis, I. M. Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali_ Nation…, 467