wfn.org | AANA BULLETIN No. 04/03 February 3, 2003 (c)

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

AANA BULLETIN No. 04/03 February 3, 2003 (c)

ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
P. O Box, 66878, 00800 Westlands, NAIROBI, Kenya.  Tel: 254-2-4442215,
4440224
Fax: 254-2-4445847, 4443241; Email: aanaapta@insightkenya.com , 
aanaapta@hotmail.com

Christians In Africa Need To Uphold Tenet Of Self-Reliance

NAIROBI (AANA) February 3 - The Church in Africa will need to uphold 
self-reliance in its pastoral programmes for purposes of sustainability, a 
Kenyan Catholic archbishop has advised.

Archbishop John Njue observed here on January 25 that "unlike in the past 
when financial assistance for church activities flew into the continent 
uninterrupted, the contrary was the reality today".

"It is with this in mind that I am appealing to churches in Africa to start 
thinking seriously about the phenomenon of self-reliance. This is the only 
way out for their fruitful performance in future", he added.

The archbishop was Speaking during the consecration of a Mill Hill Catholic 
Bishop, Cornelius Schilder (61 years), at Ngong town (about 30 miles 
south-west of Nairobi).

He caused laughter among the congregation when he said:  "The African 
people, as well as their continent, were not as poor as they either 
portrayed themselves, or were being portrayed by other people".

"We need to get out of this thinking for our present and future 
prosperity," he emphasised, adding:  "Days were gone when (churches) relied 
wholly on foreign financial assistance."

The archbishop is the chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC), a 
national council of Catholic bishops.
Reported by Osman Njuguna

Gains On Sudan Talks Could Be Threatened By Iraq War

NAIROBI (AANA) February 3  The imminent Iraq war could influence the 
on-going Sudanese peace talks here, a participant of the talks, Prof. 
Cirino Hiteng,	observed here last week.

He noted that the war could galvanise the Arab world against all Christian 
communities, including southern Sudanese.

The war might also be of an advantage to southern Sudan.  Khartoum might 
take a hard-line position against the peace process in response to Arab 
solidarity, putting it into direct confrontation with the Americans. This 
may help southern Sudan.

The Sudanese peace talks have however reached a critical stage of settling 
key issues, that have been the bone of contention between Khartoum 
government and Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

Prof Hiteng, who was on January 28 briefing the All Africa Conference of 
Churches (AACC) on the situation of current Sudan peace talks, said that 
the mediators (Inter-governmental Authority on Development - IGAD) had come 
up with eight points that they wanted the two parties to discuss and reach 
a consensus.

Among the key matters due to be agreed upon by the two sides are a new 
constitution, elections, distribution of government ministries, national 
capital and presidency.

Prof Hiteng said confusion had emerged over the constitution because the 
government was pressing for an Islamic based constitution, while SPLM/A 
wanted a new constitution drafted.

The international community has expressed the need for elections in order 
to legitimise the peace process, an issue that both sides have consented 
to. They however, have not agreed on the date.

The government wants elections held in the first year of the agreed 
six-year interim period.  SPLM/A insists that elections must be held in the 
last part of the interim period, saying logistics for elections are not in 
place in southern Sudan.

A constitution of national legislature is another contentious issue that 
the warring parties have failed to agree on.

SPLM/A wants 40 percent representation in the lower house and 50 percent in 
the upper house, while the government has objected to this number. Prof 
Hiteng said SPLM/A argued on proportional representation.

He noted that on ministries, SPLM/A wants to be given key ministries since 
they have never served in these positions from independence.

"We are saying that we need 40 percent in the sovereign ministries and 
civil service but the government is arguing that all ministries are the 
same," said Prof Hiteng.

He added that distinction has to be made between sovereign ministries and 
service ministries.

"The government is also saying that we should be given only 20 percent and 
that we need training in these positions first, since we have been in the 
bush for so long," he said.

The Sudan government and SPLM/A have not agreed on which should be the 
national capital. The current capital, Khartoum, is sharia-based.

"If it will be Khartoum, the SPLM/A wants Khartoum to be sharia-free. If 
they insist on the state of Khartoum, our decision now is to curve part of 
it to be sharia-free. This seems to be convincing to the international 
community," said Hiteng.

There is also misunderstanding on the issue of presidency. SPLM/A would 
like a rotating presidency during the six-year interim period which will be 
divided into halves.

  "In the first three years, Omar El Bashir (incumbent head of Khartoum 
government) will be president, and John Garang (SPLM/A leader) 
vice-president and also serve as president of the South, Prof Hiteng said.

He went on: "During the second half, Garang will be president of the 
republic and Bashir vice-president."

Prof Hiteng, who is a lecturer of International Relations and Politics at 
the United States International University-Africa Campus in Nairobi, 
however, said that the government is rejecting this idea.

Head of Research and development at the AACC Dr Kwawang Kunijwok, who 
represents AACC as an observer at the talks, said: "We have been shying 
away from creating our own government. This time we have to do it whether 
the North likes it or not".

The issue of wealth sharing is appearing to be more complicated and most of 
the things are based on percentages.

"Since most of the resources are in the South, SPLM/A is claiming 70 
percent of the wealth, but the government says it will give them only 10 
percent," said Prof Hiteng.

He underlined the need for SPLM/A to penetrate the civil society and 
ecumenical movements in order to gain support in pursuit of peace.

"Real Christian support is lacking in the peace process and we need it to 
lobby for peace," he said, pointing out in comparison that Islamic 
organisations "even supply military hardware to the government."

He said that ecumenical movements and the Church were powerful 
institutions, which could bring about peace in the Sudan.

He recalled that the only peace the country had ever enjoyed was after the 
Addis Ababa peace pact, which was brokered by AACC and the World Council of 
Churches and provided a peace reprieve from 1972 to 1983.

Prof Hiteng, regretted the fact that the African Union (AU) had not paid 
attention to the Sudanese peace process.

"The AU has no interest, no affection no passion for matters affecting the 
continent. They do not even talk about the conflict in Sudan, while they 
are supposed to be the voice of Africa," he stressed.

AACC interim General Secretary Melaku Kifle, said, his organisation was 
willing to be involved in all matters affecting the continent. He also 
expressed hope that a lasting peace was on the way for Sudan.

The negotiations were temporarily stopped for one day on January 28. The 
SPLM/A delegation had sought one day off to consult, following government 
bombardments on January 27, on three oil-rich towns in SPLM/A-controlled 
areas.

SPLM/A accused the government of violating the Memorandum of Understanding 
(MOU) on cessation of hostilities, which was signed between the two parties 
last October.

Reported by Joyce Mulama

FEATURES  SECTION

Asylum Seekers Who Pose A  Threat To Security

Malawi, one of southern Africa's peaceful countries, is now being termed a 
victim of its hospitality.  Refugees from neighbouring countries in 
conflict are illegally taking over businesses and even engaging in corrupt 
as well as illicit business deals.  AANA Correspondent Hobbs Gama says 
poorly equipped government authorities are having difficulties in 
containing illegal immigrants.

M
alawi is grappling with an influx, in recent years, of refugees and illegal 
foreigners who are blamed for increasing crime and conducting business 
activities without required permits.

There has been finger pointing between the government and the United 
Nations High Commissio for Refugees (UNHCR), with the former accusing the 
later of laxity in accepting asylum seekers. But the refugee agency defends 
itself saying it was only there as a helper.

Some refugees from Dzaleka camp in central Malawi, the main home for 
foreigners fleeing war and persecution in their countries are said to be 
owning commuter minibuses and taxis.

They are also engaging in importation and exportation of merchandise behind 
the backs of authorities.  Local people are said to be colluding with the 
foreigners to successfully flout the law.

The Road Traffic Directorate (RTD) confirmed they had launched a campaign 
to investigate all vehicles suspected to be owned by foreigners.

Jomo Mkandawire, RTD director, says in the past few months, 20 minibuses 
and taxis belonging to foreigners were impounded. The foreigners run their 
businesses in Lilongwe, the administrative capital of the country.

He was, however, quick to admit that tracing foreigners was proving a 
nightmare because they run the businesses using names of their Malawian 
workers.

"We have managed to hold some vehicles but the problem is that they are 
under Malawian names. We have therefore asked the police to assist us," 
says Mkandawire.

But statements from the Immigration Department in the Ministry of Home 
Affairs charged that even foreigners had a right and were at liberty to 
operate businesses in Malawi, as long as one completed a legitimate seven 
year continuous stay.

Chief Immigration Officer, for the department, David Kambilonjo, said as 
long as the foreigners followed proper procedures, they enjoyed the 
fundamental right to embark on any legal business in the country of abode.

He quoted Malawi's Business Permit Law on Immigration Act 15/015 Section 
PRP 1986.

"Such are the provisions, but the law is silent on foreigners who marry 
Malawian women as one way of gaining access to operate businesses in the 
country even before they attain a mandatory seven year order," Kambilonjo 
pointed out.

Malawi cannot neglect housing refugees as it is party to the 1951 UN 
Convention and the 1969 Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now African 
Union (AU) convention, to take care of people fleeing their states.

UNHCR argues that the administration of asylum seekers is the 
responsibility of the Malawi government, which is a signatory to several 
international conventions governing the status of refugees.

Head of UNHCR in Malawi Michael Owor countered that his office only acted 
as an advisor to government, while the whole administration rested in 
government's hands.

"UNHCR helps to cope with its refugees problem. Malawi ratified the 1951 UN 
convention on the protection of refugees.

What this means is that it agreed to grant asylum within its territory to 
people fleeing persecution either because of their political or religious 
opinion," reasoned Owor.

A technical committee comprising Immigration Department, the Police, 
Ministry of Health, the Commissioner for Disaster Preparedness and UNHCR 
was established to oversee affairs of asylum seekers.

Owor, reacting to accusations by immigration authorities about UNHCR's 
hasty screening of illegal aliens and granting of refugee status, said it 
was not proper to push blame on the agency while there was a whole committee.

Malawi, which has had no experience of internal war since independence from 
Britain in 1964, has in recent years seen an influx of refugees and illegal 
aliens from the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, and distant countries.

Malawians feel the government should do something about people entering the 
country without proper documents.

Current  increasing levels of crime is attributed to unchecked entry of 
foreigners, who are said to bring with them small fire-arms such as the 
AK47 rifle.

Intermittent joint surprise swoops by the police and immigration has not 
done much to curb illegal aliens. Early this year 70 foreigners were nabbed 
and repatriated.  But lack of resources has prevented the government from 
carrying out regular cleaning exercises.

Indeed, the authorities are now beginning to experience the burden.  Home 
affairs minister, Monjeza Maluza, accepts that the current spate of armed 
robberies, car thefts and hijackings are a result of infiltration of 
illegal immigrants operating a syndicate with other criminals in southern 
African countries in cross-border crime activities.

"We observe that most motor vehicle thefts are being committed by illegal 
immigrants. The problem is that we give them refugee status ourselves," 
said Maluza.

Last December the government announced that it was working towards 
reviewing the Immigration Act to seal loopholes in order to curb the influx 
of foreigners who circumvented the present law.

Serious Omission That Gave A Free Rein To AIDS

Until recently, focus on HIV/AIDS prevalence in Kenya has been on urban 
populations and communities that have opened up to Western cultures, mainly 
in cash-crop growing regions in western, coastal and central parts of the 
country. The omission of the arid and semi-arid areas  from AIDS 
surveillance initiatives, gave a free reign to the disease among 
cattle-herders in the north, reports Pedro Shipepechero.

A
n entire village in northern Kenya is on the brink of being wiped out by 
HIV/AIDS.

Manyatta-Turkana, a settlement for Turkana herdsmen forced out of their 
homes on the Kenya-Uganda border by extreme weather and famine, is now on 
the receiving end of the ruthless march of the AIDS pandemic.

The settlement is located about a kilometre northwest of Kenya's northern 
frontier town of Isiolo.  It records on average, two deaths every 
month.	Each of the 166 families in the village has lost at least four 
members to the scourge since 1990, when the villagers first became aware of 
the ravages of the disease.

At first, they perceived AIDS as an evil that could only be exorcised by 
night-long drum-beating ritual known locally as hayana, among the Somali 
and Borana, or ajuran, among the Turkana.

Many homesteads in the three villages are without people. The owners have 
died of AIDS. Adjacent to the Manyatta-Turkana village, there is a burial 
ground for hundreds of people the residents say died of the scourge.

However, the nearby Kambi Sheikh and Kambi Somali villages are not as 
seriously affected as Manyatta-Turkana.

But amidst the gloom that hangs over the area, the local people, who are 
mostly of Somali, Borana and Oromo ethnics, talk about their afflictions 
openly.

Even children, some as young as two years, speak openly about their parents 
who died of the disease.  This is unlike in many parts of Kenya, where 
discussions on the disease are still shrouded in secrecy.

Describing the impact of the scourge on the migrant pastoralists, Emma, 
a  68-year old woman, who villagers expect to succumb to the disease soon, 
says she does not know how she was infected. The emaciated old lady's 
condition is made worse by lack of food.  She gets just a meal in a week.
	
Her minders say she has been a spinster all her life, an allusion that she 
may have had more than one sexual partner.

Emma's determination to live on, however,  is compromised by the squalor 
she lives in. She is exposed to jigger infestation, not to speak of 
insufficient nutrition and medical services available to her.
	
"Her death would have been humane if she had access to food and 
antiretrovirals.  The only government health facility in Isiolo town is 
under-equipped to meet medical needs of the villagers.

In addition, the local residents cannot afford to pay for private transport 
for their sick to hospital", says Ms Pauline Kinyua, a volunteer community 
health worker with the Kenya Red Cross Society.
	
"The devastating impact of the disease on the village is worsened by lack 
of succour and care of the infected," adds Kinyua, who is a former employee 
of the Ministry of Health attached to the Isiolo District Hospital.

Kinyua recalls that prior to 1990, about 600 families lived in the village. 
"The families, with an average of about six members, are now 166 and the 
sizes of the families continue to decline," she says.

She links the relentless march of the disease to the government's poor 
health policies that have marginalised the nomadic communities that roam 
about four-fifths of the country's landmass in search of grass and water 
for their livestock.

The high prevalence of the disease in the region, according to Joseph 
Ekuwam, a Roman Catholic catechist, is a product of poor government 
policies and the dictates of nature.

Ekuwam, who ministers in the neighbouring Kambi-Sheikh village, says that 
information on AIDS is scanty and is often conveyed in English and 
Kiswahili, which are not understood by the communities that have not 
benefited from the country's education policies.

"To create awareness, the information should be conveyed in local 
languages, otherwise the disease will continue ravaging the villages 
unabated," says the catechist.

The villagers lost their entire herds to the El Nino and La Nina weather 
phenomena between 1996 and 1999. Ever since, the communities depend on 
international relief agencies for alms, which do not meet their nutritional 
needs, says Kinyua.

One of the villagers affected by the phenomena was John Silale.  Since he 
lost his job in the livestock management department of the Ministry of 
Agriculture in the 1990s, he and his family have survived by begging on the 
streets of Isiolo town.

He says that lack of food forced his wife and daughters into prostitution, 
the result of which has been the death of five of his children and his wife 
in the past three years. Silale and his surviving two children are also 
infected with HIV/AIDS.

"I know I have only a few days to live. But I am morally-bound to talk 
about my condition so as to save the youth from the scourge", says 
Silale.  "Unless we go public about our HIV status, the entire clan will 
perish," he adds.

It is this kind of openness Kinyua hopes will check the spread of the virus.

For 20-year old Leah Lowas, her parents succumbed to the disease in 1996, 
forcing her out of school to assume the responsibility of fending for her 
six siblings  two sisters and four brothers.

"Although I knew that my parents died of AIDS, that did not stop me from 
looking for a way of fending for my siblings," says Lowas.  She opted to 
become a commercial sex worker until she conceived two months ago. She is 
now a mother of a three-month-old baby, who too must be taken care of.

Besides the death and morbidity impact the disease has had on the 
community, it has also resulted in the deterioration of the ecology. The 
residents have resorted to burning charcoal to earn a living.

Kinyua says the focus on densely populated regions of the country denied 
the drylands the resources that would have been used to scale down the 
spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mungiki: A Mysterious Sect,  A Thorn In The Flesh

They have the instinct of predators, preying over their victims with no 
remorse. Sanctity of life is not in their vocabulary, making their thirst 
for blood only comparable to that of so called vampires. That is the 
dreaded Mungiki sect, now sprouting in Kenya and assuming the 
characteristics of a blood-curdling monster. Authorities seem to be having 
difficulty in eradicating them.  Joseph K'Amolo reports.

T
he formation of Mungiki sect remains a mystery to many Kenyans. There have 
been contradicting statements.

Some reports say the group possibly started in 1988 with the aim of 
toppling the government of immediate former president of Kenya, Daniel 
Torotich arap Moi.

Those who share this thinking believe the group was an offshoot of 
Mwakenya, an underground movement formed in 1979 to challenge the Kenya 
African National Union (KANU) regime.

Other reports indicate that Mungiki was founded in 1987 by some young 
schoolboys.

The activities of the sect, however, came into the limelight in late 1990s, 
when reports started flowing in of groups of suspicious looking youths, 
many donning dreadlocks, being seen taking unusual oaths, and engaging in 
strange prayers.

Confronted by authorities, their swift defence would be that theirs was a 
group of traditionalists interested only in re-introducing and promoting 
traditional way of life among the Kikuyu ethnic group. They posed as a 
traditional religious group, but an unusual one because taking snuff during 
worship was their trademark.

But their hardline stand against Western idiologies put them on a collision 
course with the police.  They started stripping naked in public, ladies 
wearing miniskirts and long trousers, and violently promoted female cut.

They would engage police in fierce running battles, and on a number of 
occasions, violently raided police stations to "free arrested members".

Their violent activities intensified. They systematically and forcefully 
began taking over management of commuter service vehicles, popularly known 
as Matatu.

In March last year, they clashed with a vigilante group in Nairobi, and 
later unleashed terror on residents of a slum area, killing 23 people and 
injuring several others.  This prompted the government to outlaw their 
grouping. They however, continued to exist, and even more openly propagated 
their warlike activities.

Personalities associated with Mungiki are Maina Njenga as the sect leader, 
and Ndura Waruinge as its national co-ordinator.  The hierarchy of the 
group includes provincial and district co-ordinators.

According to a source close to the sect, Maina, the leader, had a vision 
from God, commanding him to bring together all the people oppressed by 
Western ideologies.  He chose the name Mungiki, which in Kikuyu language 
means "many people".

Big names in political circles are said to have joined in to offer 
financial support.  The sect quickly grew in membership to an estimated 1.5 
to 2 million members today.  Its membership is drawn possibly entirely from 
the Kikuyu community.

The source, who asked for anonymity, says Mungiki mission at its inception, 
was to propagate African culture and to frustrate Christianity, which to 
them, was a cultural manifestation of Western civilisation that perpetuated 
neo-colonialism.

It is no wonder that the sect at one time sought to have close ties with 
the Islamic faith to intensify fight against Christianity. This was 
ostensibly to win support of Muslims in their acts of destruction and 
orgies. Unfortunately the Muslims, through their superiors, disowned them.

If one was to follow the chronology of mayhem and trail of blood left by 
Mungiki, it would be hard not to link them with drugs, the same thing they 
claim to preach against.

The March incident in Nairobi was just one of the many innocent killings 
Mungiki has engaged in. Last month, 16 other lives were lost in Nakuru 
town, in Rift Valley Province in yet another Mungiki attack.

Within the same month, several other people were killed by the same group 
in Laikipia and Muranga districts in Rift Valley and Central provinces 
respectively.

These happened just as the current government (NARC) gave ultimatums to the 
sect members to surrender, or otherwise face the wrath of government 
machinery.  Mungiki vowed not to give in, but to counter any attacks on 
them by the authorities.

Their adamant stance, observers say, could be a manifestation of the 
leniency with which the past government (KANU) handled their cruel behaviour.

This became evident last year in the run-up to the general elections, when 
members of the sect thronged the streets of Nairobi to express solidarity 
with Uhuru Kenyatta, former president Moi's choice of successor.

The police stood by as the club, machete, and sword-wielding Mungiki 
members took charge of the city centre. People were baffled at how such a 
volatile and outlawed group could easily chant around the streets carrying 
crude weapons without police interference.

But there was an answer. The Mungiki were simply responding to a challenge 
by two former Members of Parliament and ardent KANU supporters,  Mr. Kihika 
Kimani and Steven Ndichu, that they "parade up and defend KANU".  Silence 
from the then government gave the impression that it tacitly supported the 
idea.

Close observers thought Uhuru Kenyatta, then a presidential candidate, 
would come out and denounce the cult. This did not come immediately. A 
mockery of the highest degree, observers said, when he 
finally  disassociated himself from the sect.

Mugambi Kiai, a lawyer by profession, deduces that KANU regime must have 
tried to use the carrot-and-stick trap to deal with Mungiki. A 
pseudo-Mungiki was created to infiltrate and neutralise the real 
Mungiki.  This, however, did not seem to work.

It was a relief to many Kenyans when violence-free elections were finally 
conducted on December 27 last year.  It had been feared that Mungiki, would 
strike to intimidate voters.

But as Kenyans craned their heads high in a show of pride for having set a 
good example to the rest of the continent, Mungiki suddenly struck with the 
Nakuru killings.   The celebration dust had hardly settled.

Mungiki's contention was that they had been barred from controlling a 
Matatu terminus in Nakuru Town, about 200 kilomtres from Nairobi.

The Matatu industry has been a target, says a Mungiki member who asked for 
anonymity, because it is vulnerable and run by young people who the sect is 
trying to convert. According to the source, they are succeeding in this.

But for whatever reason the sect was formed, the heinous act of killing 
with impunity has brought the members into a tricky warpath with the 
government and the public at large. Observers say their acts can 
potentially scare away foreign investors as they depict insecurity.