wfn.org | AANA - BULLETIN No. 33/02 (a)

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AANA Bulletin							Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Mitch Odero					Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

Moi Pays A Glowing Tribute To The Church In Africa

NAIROBI (AANA) August 26 - Churches have been called upon to join 
governments to end wars in Africa.

Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi, who was officially opening the Sisters 
of Eastern Africa Study Conference (SEASC) last week observed that "many 
times in conflict situations, it is not only evangelisation that suffers, 
but the evangelists have found themselves in a crossfire in which many have 
lost their lives".

President Moi called on the Christians in Africa to be at the forefront in 
preaching peace and encouraging people to live as brothers and sisters 
regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, adding "this is because the 
Commandment of God demands this from us".

The vicious circle of poverty in the  continent has been compounded by 
practices, which have divided the people into ethnic segments, competing 
for power, he stressed.

The resultant scenario is that of violence and intolerance, which further 
complicates efforts to create harmony and democracy, said President Moi, 
stressing, "The biggest casualty in such a violent and unstable 
environment, is indeed the word of God".

More than 100 Catholic Sisters, gathered from the eight Eastern and Central 
African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, 
Malawi and Zambia and will base their deliberations on the theme: 
"Formation for Religious Women in the New Millennium".

They are meeting under the auspices of AMECEA-  Association Member 
Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa, which groups together Catholic 
Bishops from the eight Eastern and Central African countries.

President Moi, praised the Church in Africa for its role in the provision 
of essential services, especially in the rural areas of the continent, 
noting that the efforts of religious women of different congregations are 
notable in serving the orphanage homes for the old people and the most 
needy community".

He also praised the Church for its involvement in caring for school 
drop-outs, street children, the homeless and drug addicts.

"In undertaking these activities to preserve the dignity of your fellow 
brothers and sisters, it is evident that you aspire to answer the call of 
Jesus in Matthew, Chapter 25, Verses 35-36 to the effect that 'I was hungry 
and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave be drink; I was a stranger 
and you made me welcome; lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you 
visited me'."

Welcoming President Moi to officially open the conference, the SEASC 
chairperson, Sister Helen Mwalye of Zambia explained that the Study 
Conference are held every two to three years to foster human and spiritual 
growth of religious women.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

Assembly Bulletin For AACC

NAIROBI( AANA) AUGUST 26 - The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) has 
launched a bulletin for its next (8th) General Assembly called Assembly Update.

According to the Assembly coordinator Rev. Dr. Kasonga wa Kasonga, the 
newsletter intends to inform the member churches and ecumenical partners on 
the level of preparations of the coming 8th General Assembly to be held in 
Yaounde, Cameroon between November 22-27, 2003.

He said the theme of the Assembly is 'Come, Let Us Rebuild', adding that 
the Assembly, which was initially scheduled for this year was postponed by 
the AACC executive committee that met in Yaounde in April to give more time 
for member churches to prepare well.

Rev Kasonga said it was appropriate for the Assembly office to keep 
everyone informed on the position of the preparation. The bulletin will be 
published quarterly to ensure member churches are geared towards this 
important event, and will be distributed free of charge to member churches, 
ecumenical partners and the public.  It will be published in the three AACC 
official languages (English, French, Portuguese)

An order of 1000 copies for the English version, 600 copies for the French 
version and 300 copies for the Portuguese version is projected.

The AACC which has its secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya, has a total of 168 
member churches and associate members including Christian councils.  The 
bulletin is being produced by the Assembly office supported by AACC 
Information Desk.

The first issue that is yet to be released has reports on the advent of 
globalisation, the new threat of international terrorism and the beginning 
of peace restoration in some war-torn African countries.

The bulletin also talks about the African union and the political and 
economic grouping under the umbrella of the New Partnership for Africa's 
Development (NEPAD), which is a blending of the millennium African Recovery 
Plan and the Omega Plan.

The bulletin will also draw attention to the alarming rate of HIV/AIDS 
incidences in Africa and the responsibility of the AACC member churches in 
their response to the control of the pandemic.

The Assembly's sub-themes are Health and Healing, Africa and Democracy, Our 
Personhood, Selfhood of the African Church and Challenges of Globalisation 
for Africa. The 8th Assembly will be first in the 21st Century.

Reported by Herman Kasili

AMECEA Reviews Its Vision

DAR ES SALAAM (AANA) August 26 - Catholic Church leaders attending their 
14the Plenary Session of the Association Member Episcopal Conferences in 
Eastern Africa (AMECEA) have devoted their time to  re-evaluate the vision, 
mission and mandate of the organisation in a bid to make the Church more 
responsive to the social challenges of the present days.

The major issues of concern in the Church include the achievement and 
impact of the African Synod held in Vatican, Rome in 1994.  The Synod was 
said to be with tremendous impact on African Church over the last eight years.

The Social Communications Department Director of AMECEA, Reverend Fr. John 
Maria Walligo (from Uganda), noted that though the evaluation of the impact 
of the Synod can better be judged basing on implementation of its 
resolutions in individual countries, generally, "the Church in Africa has 
now become more dynamic in dealing with various issues as a result of the 
Synod."

The Synod has also broadened and quickened the church intervention in the 
issues of democracy, peace-keeping and human rights abuse especially in the 
countries faced with conflicts.

The Bishops in Eastern Africa noted that the Synod has also been the source 
of mushrooming of social communication channels initiated and supported by 
the Church in various countries.

According to the documents supplied to the participants, the aim of the 
meeting was to make the Church more responsible for dealing with various 
problems that AMECEA congregations have been experiencing in present days.

Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa commended the Church for being 
instrumental in the transformation of the society, notably fighting against 
injustices and inequalities in addition to their traditional role of 
promoting morality and spiritual growth.

Opening the 14th Plenary (AMECEA) President Mkapa urged religious leaders 
to raise their voices against global social injustices.

Reported by Daniel Msangya

Police Search al-Qaeda Men

LILONGWE (AANA) August 26 - The Malawi Police stormed a mosque in the 
capital Lilongwe and arrested at least 30 Asian Muslims on suspicion that 
they were linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

The 30 were released unconditionally only after the police took details of 
two of them holding Malawian passports.

One of the Muslims, Rafik Abdul Latif said the police rounded them up at 
the mosque at around midnight last Thursday, August 15, and entered the 
mosque with their boots on.

"From what the police were saying, we suspect that the police worked on a 
tip from Americans who must have thought we were al Qaeda agents," said 
Latif, who described the move as harassment by the police. "There was 
neither a warrant of arrest nor a search warrant," he said.

Latif said, however, that the arrested Muslims were members of a group 
called Tabliq, whose work, he says was to bring together Muslims for 
Islamic teachings.  "These people spend each Thursday night at the mosque 
and in the morning of Fridays they get into groups that go to different 
people to teach," he said, pointing out that all the suspects were 
Malawians of either coloured or Asian origin.

Ibrahim Macjohn,29, one of those who were arrested said the police, upon 
invading the mosque, were asked by the Muslims to remove their boots. They 
later complied and went ahead with their search of the mosque.

Macjohn said the police asked them about al Qaeda network,  death of a man 
near the mosque and an alleged fight among Muslims, which they denied 
having knowledge of.

Since the multi-party government came into effect in 1994, many mosques 
have been planted adjacent to Christian  churches at strategic 
points.  President Muluzi is a Muslim.

In 1998,  the Malawi immigration authorities arrested at least 13 people of 
Arabic origin at Lilongwe international airport on suspicion that they 
entered the country using false passports and other documents. The were 
denied entry.

The arrest followed the simultaneous bombing incidents of the American 
embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam by suspected al Qaeda functionaries 
in which hundreds of people were killed.

Reported by Hamilton Vokhiwa

Kenya's Politics Like Mercury

NAIROBI(AANA) August 26 - Kenya's politics is like mercury in a thermometer 
. It hots up and cools down.

Lately, the succession political debate has sent the temperature up, more 
so in the ruling party's camp, Kenya African National  Union (KANU), which 
has been the only ruling party since the country got its independence in 1963.

Since then, there have been only two presidents. The founding father of the 
nation, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, who ruled to his death in 1978 upon 
which his then vice president Daniel Toroitich arap Moi took over and is 
due to celebrate his 25th anniversary in power next year.

He is on his last term this year or early next year. Accordingly, five 
senior members of his party have declared their candidature for the 
presidency. President Moi has openly expressed preference for Kenyatta's 
son, seen to be a junior in politics without experience, the 41 year old 
Uhuru Kenyatta.

Moi's declaration is seen to have closed doors to his long time vice 
president Prof. George Saitoti and his party Secretary General Mr Raila 
Odinga, who was on March 18 lured to merge his National Development Party 
(NDP) with KANU, hopeful that the action could propel him to the higher 
substantive position of presidency.

Equally so, the loyal western province community of Luhya expected one of 
their own Mr. Musalia Mudavadi to be considered for the presidency. He has 
since declared his interest.

This team have since formed a group termed Rainbow Alliance to contest 
against the other group that is now termed as Uhuru Project.

A blow to the Rainbow group came when Moi sacked his former party Secretary 
General Mr Joseph Kamotho from the cabinet recently along with an outspoken 
Assistant Minister Fred Gumo.  The sackings were seen as warning to the 
Rainbow group.

The real litmus test for KANU will be when it settles for nominations. The 
Rainbow group insists on nomination by secret ballot, which the Uhuru 
Project group fears could lead to failure by Uhuru not getting nominated. 
Accordingly, Uhuru camp supports nomination by acclamation.

The Rainbow Alliance, spearheaded by the Secretary General Raila Odinga, 
have threatened to boycott the KANU nomination process if it is not carried 
out through secret ballot.

The Vice President George Saitoti who has never before opposed his boss, 
President Moi, took a defiant stand when he offered to contest the 
presidency.  Saitoti refused to heed the president's order that he seeks 
another post in favour of Uhuru Kenyatta.

Minister Katana Ngala from the coast who was believed to be the flag bearer 
for coastal people withdrew from the contest by backing Uhuru while the 
Eastern province representative Kalonzo Musyoka is still in the race for 
presidency.

Meanwhile, the opposition front under the umbrella body the National 
Alliance for Change (NAK) are in a dilemma. Todate they have not named 
their single presidential candidate.

Secondly, the leader of official opposition in parliament Mr. Mwai Kibaki, 
who was thought could be the opposition candidate is said to be 
disadvantaged since Uhuru comes from his (Kibaki's) tribe Kikuyu and would 
dent Kikuyu block votes.

The Alliance now leaves the Ford Kenya leader Wamalwa Kijana and National 
Party of Kenya (NPK) leader Charity Ngilu as probable strategic candidates 
for the opposition party.

On the other hand, Simeon Nyachae of Ford People party has publicly stated 
that he does not subscribe to the approach of opposition's single 
presidential candidate and would himself contest the presidency on a Ford 
People ticket, thus dividing the opposition votes.

Kenya goes to the polls probably at the end of this year or early next 
year. A constitutional review process is not expected to be accomplished 
until early next year.

Reported By Herman Kasili