wfn.org | All Africa News Agency 25/03 June 30 2003 (b)

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ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
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AANA BULLETIN No. 25/03 June 30, 2003 (b)

Some Christians Want Kenya's National Motto Changed

NAIROBI (AANA) June 30 - Controversy is brewing in Kenya between a section 
of Christians and members of the public over the country's national motto 
for 40 years, Harambee.

A number of Christians, drawn mainly from the Pentecostal churches, want 
the motto erased from the country's coat of arms, alleging that Harambee 
gives honour to a Hindu goddess called Ambee.

The goddess is depicted in Hindu religion as a heavily armed female riding 
on the back of a tiger. She has eight arms and eight weapons. She is the 
most powerful of the goddesses, according to Hindu faithful.

"As committed Christians and patriotic Kenyans, we are disturbed by the 
realisation that our national motto gives honour and glory to a Hindu 
goddess, yet as Christians, we are aware that honour and glory belong to 
God alone," Linda Agalo-Achieng of Alpha Kenya, a Christian Organisation, 
told a commission here, on June 24.

But some members of the public have challenged this view, saying that they 
have grown up knowing that Harambee means pooling together for development.

"We should not ignore the fact that Harambee as our motto, has helped build 
schools in this country. We must not narrow it down to a spirit since it is 
deeply entrenched in our culture," said Wafula Buke, a human rights activist.

Investigations into the origin of this Gujerati word, according to the 
Christians, indicates that  Indian Coolies, while working on the 
Mombasa-Kampala railway line more than a century ago, lightened their work 
by chanting Haree Ambee, which in their words meant "Hail, Ambee".

With time, the words came to be assimilated into Kiswahili, Kenya's 
national language, to mean "pooling together".

"There is a spirit behind the word. When Kenyans shout the motto, they get 
into contact with that spirit. This is offending to Christians," says a 
local pastor, who did not wish to be named.

But Mr Kabacia Gatu, a member of the public, says Kenyans should see 
Harambee from its original meaning of pooling resources together for 
development.

The current debate centres on the government's instituted commission to 
evaluate whether public fundraising, also known as Harambee should be 
retained or scrapped. The commission has been gathering views from the 
public and is yet to accomplish the task.

Reported by Muuna Wamuli

Officials Issue Fresh Warning Following More Lion Attacks

BLANTYRE (AANA) June 30 - Officials of Malawi's Department of National 
Parks and Wildlife have renewed a warning that people living near game 
reserves should move in groups or seek help from the authorities before 
passing by the parks to avoid being attacked.

The warning follows growing fears of more attacks by wild animals on people 
living around national parks and game reserves in the country.

Director of National Parks and Wildlife,  Leonard Sefu, reacting to a 
recent incident in which a man was killed by a lion while cycling along a 
lone path near Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi, said people should 
heed the government warning to avoid further attacks.

The latest attack brought the number of persons killed by lions to eight 
throughout the country this year.

In February, villagers around Kasungu and Nkhotakota national parks in 
central Malawi, were living in fear after lions that went loose devoured at 
least seven persons.

One lion was killed by game hunters following the incidents, but it was 
feared that three others were still on the loose.

Marauding animals in Malawi include hyenas, which also attack people in 
various parts of the country, the most notorious being Ntcheu district in 
the south, where the beasts are associated with superstition.

It is alleged that magicians turn into hyenas to steal other people's 
livestock such as goats and pigs. Incidents of hyenas killing people have 
also been reported in Blantyre, and Dowa districts in southern and central 
Malawi respectively.

Reported by Hamilton Vokhiwa

  Underwriters Weigh Chances Of Insuring AIDS Patients

NAIROBI (AANA) June 30 - Insurance companies in Africa have been urged to 
stop discriminating against people who are HIV-positive when providing 
insurance covers.

Participants attending a two-day international seminar here last week (June 
23-24), on the impact of HIV/AIDS on Insurance in Africa, called on people 
in the Insurance industry to perceive the current HIV/AIDS scourge as a 
"challenge but not a problem".

"Let us take it that we can serve them (HIV/AIDS sufferers), while we 
continue to make profitable business," urged Johnson Githaka, the Managing 
Director of the Kenya Reinsurance Corporation Limited, which organised the 
international seminar.

About 100 representatives of 40 insurance companies attended the Nairobi 
meeting. They were drawn from Angola, Burundi, India, Togo, Uganda, 
Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Most insurance companies do not offer cover to HIV-positive persons, citing 
the high risk involved.

It was observed during the consultations, however, that a few courageous 
insurance companies had ventured into insuring people already confirmed to 
be infected with HIV.

In South Africa, for example, there is one insurance company that provides 
cover for HIV/AIDS victims, a participant disclosed to AANA.

Proposals by some participants that governments make testing for HIV 
compulsory, were rejected.

"Some of these matters edge on legal line, which we must carefully 
accommodate in this business," remarked, Dr. Mohammed Abdullah, the 
chairman of Kenya's National AIDS Control Council.

But the insurance experts were in agreement that for them to offer cover to 
AIDS victims, and still remain in business, support from governments was 
necessary.

"If we leave governments out in this business, we will not manage to serve 
HIV/AIDS victims and remain in business," noted a participant.

Officially opening the consultations, Kenya's Minister for Finance, David 
Mwiraria observed: "HIV/AIDS should be viewed as risk like any other 
insurance risk that you provide cover for ".

He went on: "Avoiding risks, as has been the trend, is not necessarily a 
mark of prudent underwriting".

Reported by Osman Njuguna

UN Commission To Hear Violations Of Human Rights

MAUN, Botswana (AANA) June 30 - A subordinate body of the United Nations 
Commission for Human Rights has slotted for this August, a case in which a 
minority tribe in north-western Botswana is seeking redress for alleged 
discrimination and harassment, and lack of representation in the 15-member 
House of Chiefs.

In February, through the Multi-cultural Coalition of Botswana (RETENG), the 
Wayei ethnic community living around the Okavango Delta lodged a formal 
complaint to the UN, alleging that the government was sidelining them.

They alleged that Botswana authorities were relocating them from the 
Okavango Delta to make way for tourism projects, which they said, would 
only "benefit the rich". They have subsequently called on the UN General 
Assembly to debate the issue.

The Wayei also say the government is taking its time to amend Section 2 of 
the Chieftainship Act to allow them to have representation in the House of 
Chiefs,
and that this has resulted in them playing subordinate to the Batawana, 
another tribe in the area.

A High Court order last year ruled in favour of the Wayei, saying they 
should have representation. The government is yet to comply with the order.

The Wayei also allege that Chief Tawana II of the Batawana, and the local 
police in north-western Botswana, are intimidating people sympathetic to
them.

Charles Ntwaagae, Botswana's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, 
confirmed to AANA the August slot for the hearing.

He revealed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' Working Group on 
Communications, has requested Botswana government to formulate a response 
to the Wayei's submissions.

He said the Wayei matter would first go through the agency's Working Group 
on Communication, which would examine the submissions and the government's 
response.

"If the government's response is satisfactory, the group will discontinue 
the matter," said Ntwaagae.

"But should the response be unsatisfactory, the issue will be referred to 
the Working Group on Situations," he further explained, adding that if at 
that stage the matter was found to be serious and should reach the Human 
Rights Commission, the government would have a case to answer.

Botswana does not have its own human right commission but concerned people 
can seek redress through the courts, Office of the Ombudsman as well as 
through their parliamentarians.

Reported by Rodrick Mukumbira

Every African  Is A Potential Refugee, Says Clergyman

NAIROBI (AANA) June 30 - "Given the fragile nature of many of our 
socio-political realities, it could be said, prophetically, that every 
African living on the continent is a potential refugee."

This observation was made by the chairman of the All Africa Conference of 
Churches (AACC) Continental Committee on Uprooted People, Rt. Rev. Dr 
Tilewa Johnson, during the commemoration of World Refugee Day here on June
20.

Declaring the day as one of the single most important days in the calendar 
of Africa, Rev Tilewa noted that the continuous hardship faced by uprooted 
people in Africa were painful lessons that reminded Christians that they 
had an obligation to stand and speak with a prophetic voice in tackling the 
endless root causes of "uprootedness" in the continent.

Said the Gambian clergy: "It is in this context that the All Africa 
Conference of Churches Continental Committee on Refugee and Emergency 
Service wishes to commemorate and stand in solidarity with the 3.5 million 
refugees currently found in Africa out of the global total of over 5
million."

Rev Tilewa revealed also that Africa has 13.5 million internally displaced 
persons, out of a global total of 25 million, compared to 4.6 million in 
Asia, 1.5 million in the Middle East, 2.2 million in South America, and 3.3 
million in Europe.

The Anglican clergy appealed to the entire ecumenical movement in the world 
to collectively speak against fundamental root causes of uprootedness in 
Africa, adding that the situation of uprooted people in the continent 
needed urgent attention.

Speaking to AANA, Rev Tilewa said that even though the Church had exerted 
more efforts to address the refugee situation in the continent, the number 
of uprooted people continued to rise by the day. The cleric regretted 
churches' weak capacity in dealing with the root causes of uprootedness, 
which only enable them to resort to providing relief.

Reported by Joseph K'Amolo

Network Wants Churches To Address Domestic Violence

NAIROBI (AANA) June 30 - Participants attending a recent consultation on 
violence, organised by the International Anglican Family Network (IAFN), 
have singled out violence among couples and against children as the most 
rampant, requiring urgent attention.

"We are calling for greater tolerance and a stop to violence in our 
society," they said in a communiqui at the close of a weeklong consultation 
(June 16-24) in Nairobi.

Poverty, poor communication, primitive cultural practices, lack of 
democracy and poor governance were noted as some of the causes of conflict 
in Africa.

The 32 delegates drawn from 17 countries in Africa, urged the Church to 
break the silence on issues of domestic violence. They called for a more 
thorough approach to pre-marital counselling and marriage enrichment.

The meeting also condemned the involvement of children in armed conflict. 
"We call on warring groups to desist from recruiting children into their 
armies to carry arms, cook or provide sex to the soldiers."

Archdeacon Taimalelagi Matalavea, who is the Anglican Church Observer at 
the United Nations in New York, and retired Anglican Archbishop David 
Gitari of Kenya, chaired the consultations.

The report and recommendations of the meeting will be forwarded to the 
Anglican Consultative Council in London for further action and follow up.

International terrorism featured prominently at the consultations, with a 
strong call being made for dialogue and mutual understanding. "Inter-faith 
dialogue will also promote an atmosphere of tolerance and peaceful 
co-existence," Mrs Ruth Kahare from Zimbabwe said.

Mrs Thandi Xundu of South Africa called for restoration of societal ubuntu, 
which she translated to mean humanness, acceptance and sharing.

Reported by Justus Waimiri

MSF Asks For Exemption From Somalia Flight Ban

NAIROBI (AANA) June 30 - A June 20 flight ban by Kenyan authorities for all 
flights to Somalia from Kenya in response to terrorist threats, has hurt 
operations of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the region.

MSF is complaining that the ban has hampered its humanitarian activities in 
Somalia, where vulnerable populations are in need of "health, nutrition, 
water and other basic services", which is "almost completely dependent on 
transport from Nairobi".

According to a press statement issued June 26, the organisation has sent a 
request to Kenyan authorities to exempt humanitarian flights from the ban.

"Unless flights resume quickly, ongoing MSF humanitarian assistance 
programmes in Somalia, including services in three hospitals and 14 health 
centres, will be disrupted," says the statement.

As at going to press, MSF request had not been granted.

Reported by Elly Wamari