Brazzaville Conference, 1944 In West Africa

The Brazzaville Conference Of 1944 In West Africa

The change in government that took place in France in 1943 which saw the emergence of General Charles de Gaulle as the new head of government in the country gave impetus to the political and institutional development of the colonial territories.

Consequently, a conference of French officials and African leaders was held at Brazzaville in the Congo to re-define the relationship between France and its overseas territories and to chart a new course of constitutional and political development for the French overseas territories.

The 1944, Brazzaville conference held in Dr Congo made the following recommendations.

• The territories should be granted autonomous status within the French Union but they were to remain part of the French Republic.
• A local legislature should be established in each territory.
• There should be a federal parliament, which would have representatives from all the territories.
• The territories shquld continue to send representahves to the French parliament in France.
• The indigenat and forced labour should be abolished.
• Citizenship status should be conferred on everyone living in the French colonial territories.
• The diversity of the French and African cultures should be recognized and traditional institutions should be adapted to suit the needs of a modern government.
• Administrative officials should be given greater autonomy.
• The people of the French speaking territories should be given greater autonomy.