Sudan Political Service
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The Sudan Political Service was the name given to the cadre of British and Egyptian officials of the Sudan Civil Service who were mainly engaged in administrative functions in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1899 and 1955 (or 1956). They were distinguished from those members of the Sudan Civil Service who served on military, departmental, or technical staffs.
A small service which had fewer than 400 members over the course of its entire existence, the Sudan Political Service had a reputation for being an elite service whose members took a genuine, if paternalistic interest in the welfare of the Sudanese.
The Sudan Political Service acquired its name in the 1920s, though the name does not seem to have ever been officially sanctioned.
Origins
Its founding is generally dated to the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan in 1899, when the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement established a condominium in Sudan, headed by a governor-general. At first, with the exception of some British civilian experts in specialized fields, administration of the territory in the provinces and towns was carried out by British officers of the Egyptian army.
Sir Evelyn Baring (later Lord Cromer), the British agent and consul-general, wished to establish a corps of civilian administrators permanently whose only duty was to administer Sudan. The first batch of specially-recruited civilian administrators were appointed in 1901.
Military officers, though they became a minority, nevertheless continued to serve in the Sudan Political Service, either on pensionable or contract terms. They tended to be posted to districts in the southern parts of the country, either in quasi-administered territories or districts bordering unadministered territory. Forming a distinct group within the Service, they became known as the "Bog Barons".
Personnel and recruitment
Of the United Kingdom's main overseas civil services, the Sudan Political Service was by far the smallest: during the course of its entire existence, it comprised less than 400 members in total.
Unlike the Indian Civil Service and the Colonial Service, the recruitment process of the Sudan Political Service was informal in character and did not involve examinations. Candidates were interviewed by an ad hoc interviewing committee which met in London once a year.
No British officials were recruited after the 1952 intake, when three probationers were appointed. By then, recruitment was on contract terms, instead of permanent and pensionable terms.
Officials recruited to the Sudan Political Service had a reputation for recruiting those with a superior athletic record over academic record, though its officers generally had reasonable academic records as well. As a result, Sudan was said to be a country of Blacks governed by Blues.[citation needed]
