wfn.org | All Africa News Agency BULLETIN No. 40/02 October 14, 2002 (a)

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

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AANA Bulletin
Editor - Mitch Odero

Bulletin APTA
Acting Editor - Silvie Alemba

Church Against Change To Extend Presidential Term

LILONGWE, Malawi/GENEVA (AANA) October 14 - The Evangelical Lutheran Church 
in Malawi (ELCM) has spoken out against ongoing attempts by the government 
to change the national Constitution to accommodate a third term for the 
incumbent President Dr	Bakili Muluzi. (also see Features Section)

He has been in office since 1994 when his United Democratic Front UDF 
defeated self-declared Life President Kamuzu Banda's Malawi Congress Party.

At a human rights workshop during August 10-13 on the involvement of men, 
women and youth in good governance, ELCM delegates drawn from congregations 
countrywide, declared any move to extend the president's term as 
"unconstitutional"

They described the move as "an attempt to prolong one-party leadership 
which can lead to the making of a dictator and weakening of all other 
political opposition parties," Bishop Joseph P. Bvumbwe, head of the 
Malawian Lutheran Church, told Lutheran World Information LWI.

Bvumbwe said a pastoral letter will be sent out to all ELCM congregations 
stating the church's stand on this concern. The delegates were attending 
the human rights workshop  sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation LWF 
Office for International Affairs and Human Rights.

They also condemned the government's monopoly over national media, 
particularly its use of television and radio as campaign propaganda tools 
for the ruling party. They urged the government to open up the media to all 
political parties so that "all voices can be heard".

The next presidential elections in the Southern African country are due in 
mid 2004. Under the current Constitution, presidents can only serve two 
five-year terms but a new Bill to be introduced in Parliament in November 
would allow three terms. The Bill had been presented in July but it failed 
to get the two-thirds majority required to change the constitution.

The controversial proposal to prolong the incumbent's term has in the 
recent past led to political violence, tension between the government and 
judiciary and caused divisions among religious leaders.

Christian church leaders spoke out against a third term, while some Muslim 
groups supported it. More than 75 percent of Malawi's 10.4 million 
population is Christian while Muslims represent around 20 percent. Muluzi 
is a Muslim.

Asked what he felt had gone wrong with Malawi, Bvumbwe said, "Like all 
other leaders, our democratically elected president has fallen to the 
temptation of power. He has failed to act as an honest leader, and has 
failed to live up to the ideals he vowed to stand for when he took his oath 
of office".

For the head of the 25,000-member Lutheran Church, Muluzi has let the 
Malawian people down. "In many ways, the country is poorer, there is 
increasing media suppression, little tolerance of opposing views, and 
people are going hungry partly because of political negligence".

He pointed out that although the Southern Africa region currently faces 
drought and serious food shortages threatening the lives of millions of 
people, "in Malawi it is also due to negligence on the part of our leaders. 
Large quantities of grain were sold for cash. Some 1,000 people died in 
2001 because of hunger".

Bvumbwe is an advisor on the LWF Council, sitting on the Program Committee 
for Mission and Development, as well as on its Project Committee. The ELCM, 
an LWF member church since 1988, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this
year.

Reported by Pauline Mumia

Catholics To Set Up Commission On Radio, TV Project

NAIROBI (AANA) October 14 - The Catholic Church in Kenya is to set up a 
commission to oversee the implementation of a radio/television project, the 
church intends to undertake soon following the issuance of a broadcasting 
license by the Kenyan Government last April 18.

Announcing the development here on October 1, the chairman of the social 
communications Commission of the Catholic Bishops, the Rt Rev David Kamau 
said the proposed commission would comprise church media personnel as well 
as professionals from the secular media world.

He further told a two-day communications workshop for the  diocesan 
communications that the Church intends to institute four radio 
(FM)/television stations in the metropolitan archdioceses of Nairobi, 
Kisumu, Mombasa and Nyeri  following the grant of the broadcasting license 
by the Kenyan authorities.

The first television/radio FM station will be for the Nairobi metropolitan 
archdiocese and its environs and is expected to go on air before Christmas, 
according to the Catholic prelate.

  But all this will depend on how fast the proposed commission will 
undertake its assignment, Kamau told the workshop participants.

  In an interview during the workshop, the national coordinator for social 
communications commission, Rev Fr. Henry Simaru said a team of technical 
and administrative experts from the Radio Vatican (Rome) were expected in 
the country soon to under this mission.

Kamau called on the   diocesan coordinators to undertake their assignments 
seriously observing "much will be expected from them when the Radio/TV 
project is realised".

He stressed the need for the Church to take communications seriously and 
focus in the area of training of personnel as well as equipping 
communications desks/units. "The Church was currently facing new challenges 
as a result of the entry of modern technology in the pastoral field".

The 60 participants, drawn from 15, out of the Church's 25 dioceses, were 
brought together to deliberate on the role of communication in pastoral
field.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

SPLA Destroys Oil Well To Interrupt Govt Revenue

NAIROBI (AANA) October 14 - The Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army SPLA has 
destroyed the main oil well in Heglig in Bentiu county, in Western Upper 
Nile in southern Sudan to frustrate the Khartoum government from earning 
revenue from oil exploration in the area.

The SPLA special commando forces of the 20th Independent Command under the 
order of Commander George Athor Deng destroyed the well on September 29 to 
stop the flow of the oil from Southern Sudan to the North, saying proceeds 
from the oil were used to purchase lethal weapons to wage war against the 
South.

A press statement signed by George Garang  on behalf of the SPLM/A 
Spokesman Dr Samson Kwaje, said the reports indicate that it will take 
considerable amount of time to restore this facility to full operation.

The commando units are set to strike again to shut down exploration of oil 
from this region, which they say has resulted in "massive human misery to 
the southern Sudanese and other marginalised areas".

The statement further said that the drilling of oil in Bentiu county, has 
instead of improving the living conditions of the indigenous African 
Sudanese, become a curse.

"The rogue regime of Omar El Bashir is pursuing a scorch-earth policy in 
the area. Thousands of indigenous people have been dislocated from their 
ancestral homesteads to make way for the greedy oil companies that are 
oblivious of the suffering of the people of southern Sudan," said the 
statement in part.

SPLM/A has on several occasions warned foreign oil companies exploring oil 
and getting concessions from the Khartoum government against trading on the 
so called  "blood oil".

SPLM/A says that their Heglig mission was an attempt to curtail progress of 
war and not for the sake of it.

"The SPLM/A reiterates its commitment to peaceful resolution of the 
conflict, but will not permit vandalism of oil for fanatical and 
ideological purposes," the statement said.

Khartoum government is yet to react to the SPLA led destruction on the oil 
wells.	Osama Mahjoub Hassan of the Sudan Embassy in Nairobi said his 
government was still monitoring the situation before issuing a statement.

Meanwhile, the second phase of Sudan peace talks, which collapsed about a 
month ago, were last week scheduled to resume on October 14 in Machakos, 
just outside the Kenyan capital  under the auspices of the 
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development IGAD.

SPLM/A official spokesman Dr Samson Kwaje said last week that the SPLM/A 
delegation would be ready for the resumption of the peace negotiations with 
Khartoum government on the new date.

Initial talks broke up when the Sudan government delegation suddenly pulled 
out of Machakos talks, citing lack of commitment on the part of SPLM/A to 
conform to sections of the Machakos Protocol signed on completion of the 
first phase last July 20.

Reported by Joyce Mulama