Andrew Cohen (colonial governor)
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Sir Andrew Cohen KCMG KCVO OBE |
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|---|---|
| Governor of Uganda | |
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In office 1952–1957 |
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| Preceded by | John Hall |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Crawford |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 October 1909 |
| Died | 17 June 1968 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Religion | Judaism |
Sir Andrew Benjamin Cohen KCMG KCVO OBE (7 October 1909 – 17 June 1968) was Governor of Uganda from 1952 to 1957.
Cohen was from a distinguished Anglo-Jewish family. He was a descendant of Levi Barent Cohen, the founder of the oldest Ashkenazi family in Britain. He was educated at Malvern College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was a Cambridge Apostle.
As Colonial Office Assistant Undersecretary for African Affairs, Cohen was involved in negotiations for a federal state for the Rhodesias and Nyasaland in 1950. The Jewish Cohen, traumatised by the Holocaust, was an anti-racialist and an advocate of African rights. However, he compromised his ideals to combat a threat that he perceived to be even more menacing: the risk that Southern Rhodesia, if it turned hostile, would fall into the orbit of the National Party government in South Africa.
To Cohen, the risk of radical Afrikaner white supremacy posed a greater menace than the perpetuation of the less inflexible, paternalistic white ascendancy system of Southern Rhodesia. Having come to terms with this compromise, Cohen went on to become one of the central architects and driving forces behind the creation of the Federation, often seemingly single-handedly untangling deadlocks and outright walkouts on the part of the respective parties.
The negotiations and conferences were indeed arduous. Southern Rhodesia and the Northern Territories had very different traditions when it came to the 'Native Question' (Africans) and the roles they were designed to play in civil society. Thus, it took nearly three years for the CAF to be established. And, once it was established, it proved to be "one of the most elaborately governed countries in the world."
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