Shoo-ins

It was election time in two important areas of Africa. In steaming Uganda, a black former herdboy was picked to steer the divided little land toward independence Oct. 9. In the sprawling Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, a white, burly former locomotive engineer won another chance to pull his disintegrating country together. The shoo-in victors:

>> Uganda's Apollo Milton Obote, 37, achieved his easy triumph with the sup port of the country's most powerful tribal monarch, Kabaka ("Freddie") Mutesa II of Buganda. Election day brought a heavy turnout; shy Pygmies emerged from Western Uganda's forests to vote, and polling officials often found it difficult to prevent them from taking their bows and arrows into the curtained booths. Winner Obote is a fervent anti-Communist whose major task in corning months will be in London, where constitutional talks are scheduled this summer. The constitution that Obote needs must give Uganda's central government enough power to rule, yet provide a measure of autonomy for the country's proud tribal kingdoms.

>> The Federation's Sir Roy Welensky, 55, won before the polls even opened, since 38 of the 53 elected candidates for the Federal Assembly were running unopposed (TIME, April 27). What Welensky sought was a vote of confidence in his stand against British policies, which, he insisted, would hand over to the blacks control of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, two of the three federal territories.

But only 11,000 of the Federation's 8,000,000 Africans were eligible to vote, and many of the whites were too bored to go to the polls. As a result, in the next Assembly, Royboy will control every seat but three. To the African nationalists who want to break up the white-controlled Federation, the election was a farce. Next month. Britain's Home Secretary R. A.

Butler arrives to discuss some new form of association that might keep the territories together. Sir Roy will get Butler's ear; but so will the bitter blacks. Said Simon Kapwepwe, acting boss of North ern Rhodesia's major black party: "We know the Federation is dead. This is the last general election."

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