wfn.org | All Africa News Agency September 22, 2003 (a)

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

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AANA Bulletin						Bulletin APTA
  Editor -Elly Wamari					Editor - Silvie
Alemba

AANA BULLETIN No. 37/03 September 22, 2003 (a)

NEWS  SECTION

Finally, Journalists Living With HIV/AIDS Speak Out

DAR ES SALAAM (AANA) September 22 - For the first in the African media 
history, journalists living with the HIV/AIDS have openly shared their 
experience with colleagues during a recent regional media conference in Dar 
es Salaam, Tanzania.

Bento Bango of Mozambique stunned fellow journalists when he shot up from 
his seat and declared that he was living positively with the dreaded
condition.

"I am no longer ashamed of my condition and you may feel free to even 
mention my name in your articles," he said, challenging fellow participants 
in the room to come forward and state their HIV status.

Except for one Namibian participant, who requested anonymity, the 
conference room momentarily went into a loud silence as no one else 
volunteered to come forth.

The two journalists underscored the role of the media in educating the 
society on HIV/AIDS to participants of the event, organised by the Media 
Institute for Southern Africa (MISA).

"I know that my readers, especially the HIV/AIDS sufferers, go through my 
articles on this subject with more dedicated interest," observed the
Namibian.

According to the event's host, Baruti Mambo, media establishments in the 
region ought to make internal policies on the disease and fight 
stigmatisation suffered by people living with the disease.

Mambo, the secretary of MISA-Tanzania Chapter, further urged media houses 
in the region to adopt their own internal policies in fighting HIV/AIDS.

Earlier, Bango narrated a moving tale of what befell him when it was 
established that he was HIV/AIDS positive. It went as far as his landlord 
ordering him to immediately vacate the house he had rented.

Owing to the nature of their work, journalists are among professionals with 
a high risk of infection.

Their work sometimes requires a lot of travel, exposing them to new 
locations and acquaintances. Besides, their partial celebrity status, 
especially journalists in the electronic media, makes them a source of 
attraction and a target of many.

The three-day meeting (September 9-11) was attended by journalists from 
Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles, South 
Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts, Tanzania.

Participants of the MISA event officially opened by the former Tanzanian 
premier, Joseph Warioba, deliberated on various issues regarding their 
work, particularly on the reporting of HIV/AIDS.

Reported by Oscar Obonyo

Nigerian Scribes Pledge Support For AIDS Campaign

LAGOS (AANA) September 22 - The campaign against HIV/AIDS in Nigeria 
received a boost last week with leaders of journalists union pledging  to 
be in the forefront in efforts to reduce the spread of the virus in the 
country.

In a communiqui issued last Wednesday at the end of a four day workshop 
organised by Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS), a non-governmental 
organisation in Benin, Edo State, the leaders of the Nigeria Union of 
Journalists (NUJ) agreed to form action committees on AIDS in each state 
councils within the next two months.

The union has councils in each of the 36 states of the federation, and the 
capital, Abuja.

They urged media practitioners in the country to be more active in 
reporting HIV/AIDS in their various organisations, and avoid stigmatising 
reports about people living with the disease.

The participants re-affirmed the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS to 
privacy, and called on doctors, religious leaders and the media to respect 
such privacy.

While urging the judiciary to help in the protection of the rights of 
people living with HIV/AIDS , the national assembly was also implored to 
promulgate a law to stop the molestation and humiliation of infected persons.

An appeal was also made to African heads of state and government to join 
efforts in the production of HIV/AIDS drugs to reduce cost and improve 
affordability.

Additionally, the Nigerian government was urged to follow up its anti AIDS 
campaign with research on vaccines for the prevention and treatment of the 
disease.

Stronger collaboration was also advocated for between government and non 
governmental organsiations working on prevention, treatment, care and 
support for the infected persons. Nigeria, with about  four million 
infected persons, has one of the largest population of people living with 
AIDS in the world.

Reported by Lekan Otufodunrin

  UN Peace Keepers Face Gross Accusations Of Church Theft

BUNIA, DRC (AANA) September 22 - Nine peacekeeping soldiers from Uruguay, 
South America, currently serving the UN peacekeeping team in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC) in Ituri province, have been accused of stealing 
some sacred objects from a church here.

UN spokesman, Fred Eckard, has revealed here that the lost sacred objects, 
one of which was a chalice, had been found at a UN military base, following 
reports of the theft case.

Meanwhile, the accused soldiers have been transferred to Kinshasa, DRC's 
capital. They will later on be repatriated, and a possible disciplinary 
action taken against them once they are found to be guilty of the offence.

Reported by Claire Mbombo

Chad Gets New Catholic Head As Akrofi Wins CPWA Top Post

VATICAN CITY (AANA) September 22 - Pope John Paul II has appointed Bishop 
Matthias N'Garteri Mayadi as head of the Catholic Archdiocese of N'Djamena, 
the capital of Chad.

The seat fell vacant on July 31, when the Pope accepted the resignation of 
Archbishop Charles Vandame.

Until his new appointment, N'Garteri served the Moundou Diocese in the 
south-west of the country as its bishop, since June 11, 1990.

The 60-year-old Catholic clergyman was ordained into priesthood on December 
30, 1978.

He was appointed titular Bishop of Thuburnica on October 28, 1985 and as 
Bishop of Sarh, near the border with Central African Republic, on March 7, 
1987.

The Catholic Church in Chad is relatively strong in the southern 
territories, and in urban centres because of Catholic emigrants from the 
South.	Much of the rest of the country is Muslim.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Accra Diocese, Rt Rev Dr Justice Ofei Yaw Akrofi 
was on September 7 elected the new archbishop of the Church of the Province 
of West Africa (CPWA).

Bishop Akrofi's will take over from The Most Rev Dr Robert G.A. Okine as 
the Metropolitan and Primate of the CPWA, who is scheduled to retire on 
October 8 after serving the maximum ten-year term in office.

According to a September 10 communiqui released by the Bishop of Gambia and 
Dean of the CPWA, the enthronement of Bishop Akrofi will be conducted on 
January 25, 2004, in Accra, Ghana.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

British MP Criticises Ugandan Government Neglect Of North

LONDON (AANA) September 22 - British Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol 
West, Valerie Davie, has criticised the British government for acclaiming 
Uganda for its moves towards development and democracy, while people in the 
north go on "suffering terribly".

In a powerful speech on September 11 to mark the second anniversary of the 
New York bombing, Davie praised the advocacy of the Bishop of Kitgum, who 
was in Britain as guest of Church Missionary Society (CMS), to launch their 
"Break the silence" campaign.

"I am especially keen to speak today following an interview that I heard 
last Sunday on Radio Bristol . . . with the visiting bishop, the Rt Rev Ben 
Ojwang.  He spoke passionately of the situation facing his diocese and the 
people of northern Uganda as a result of the atrocities committed by the 
Lord's Resistance Army, including the abduction and brutalising of 20,000 
children," said Davie.

She went on: "That is happening in a country that we are all acclaiming as 
having met the HIPC (heavily indebted poor countries) regulations.  It is 
one of the countries that is doing better and that we highlight as 
developing, and I am sure that my honourable friend, the Minister would 
suggest that it is one of those moving forward to democracy. Yet 
communities in the north of Uganda have been suffering terribly for 17 years.

"As the bishop said, while the Ugandan army has gone into the Congo, it has 
failed to resolve the situation within its own borders."

Ms Davie called on Parliament to "keep Uganda in mind as we think about a 
new role for the UN".

Meanwhile, Oxfam, a UK based international NGO, has invited the Bishop to 
endorse their "Control Arms Campaign" planned for launching on	October 9, 
after hearing his interview on BBC's Today programme.

By Jenny Taylor
Head of Media
Church Missionary Society-UK

  Zimbabweans To Continue Facing Food Shortage - Report

GENEVA (AANA) September 22 - An estimated 5.5 million Zimbabweans will 
require food aid by January next year.

These are the latest findings of a Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission 
in six countries in southern Africa, which puts Zimbabwe at the top of the 
list of countries facing starvation.

The report, issued by the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and 
Agricultural Organisation (FAO), warns that the food situation in the 
country is worsening.

Food shortages in southern Africa have come about as a result of a 
2001/2002 drought.  The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, along with failed 
government policies has compounded the problems in several countries, 
threatening millions of people in the region with hunger.

While countries like Zambia and Malawi are recovering, Zimbabwe has still 
the highest number of people in need of food aid.

Coping mechanisms for the country's 11.6 million are seriously stressed or 
largely exhausted, after the severe shortages of last year.

"The major causes of the much lower than normal production of cereals this 
year include erratic rainfall, limited availability of seed and fertiliser, 
particularly in view of two or three re-plantings needed in many areas, and 
the newly settled farmers not being able to utilise all the land due to 
lack of adequate capital and inputs, or collateral to procure them," the 
Assessment Mission report states .

It expounds further: "Following the land reform programme, the large scale 
commercial sector now produces only about one-tenth of its output in the 
1990s."

Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, a global alliance of 
churches providing humanitarian assistance, has been responding to the 
crisis in the region since last year.

ACT members in Zimbabwe, Christian Care and Lutheran Development Service 
(LDS), have been addressing immediate food insecurities through food aid.

But in Zimbabwe, the difficulties of operating in an environment where 
inflation is now about 400 percent presents huge challenges for relief 
agencies.

Momo Masoka, the Deputy Director of Christian Care in Harare, reveals that 
his programme faces many constraints.

"We continue to work in an economy where there are shortages of cash, fuel 
and food items.  The situation is very difficult for local people as prices 
are very high," he explains.

Christian Care has so far distributed food aid to a total of 1.3 million 
people in 19 districts, with support from ACT International and other 
partners.

While some communities realised a small harvest in April and May, many 
households will again need food aid in November because their harvests are 
insufficient to carry them through.

LDS has been assisting	people in Matabeleland South, Masvingo and Midlands 
provinces.  "But for the past two months, because of lack of basic supplies 
and resources, we have been seriously affected," says Joseph Hove, the 
Finance Manager for LDS.

He adds: "We are feeding in total, 49,000 people in Matabeleland South with 
the help of local donors, but many areas will require more help as we move 
into September and October."

Hove says a big problem affecting his programme is fuel shortages, which is 
causing operational problems in distributing food aid.	Another problem, he 
notes, is that the needs have increased so much more than anticipated.

Reported by Callie Long
Communications Officer
ACT International Co-ordinating Office

Catholic Faithful Differ Over Issues Of Political Opinionating

BLANTYRE (AANA) September 22 - A newly formed committee of lay Roman 
Catholic faithful has petitioned their Archbishop to discipline priests who 
use the pulpit to campaign for or against political parties or presidential 
hopefuls ahead of next years general elections.

The development threatens to tear apart the Catholic Church in Malawi, the 
largest Christian congregation in the country, as some leaders now say that 
those who contradict its sermons can leave and join other denominations.

Followers of the Church at Limbe Cathedral in Blantyre, one of the main and 
oldest seats of the Catholic Church in Malawi, recently wrote to Archbishop 
Tarsizius Ziyaye, the head of the Roman Catholic Church here.

The Voice, as the group is named, contend that it is wrong for priests and 
any other church leaders to name, during sermons, politicians they would 
wish their followers to vote for in the May 18, 2004 polls.

"The Church should not dictate to its followers which party to vote for. 
Our priests are not supposed to persuade us to vote for a particular party 
of their choice," charged the faithful in their letter to Archbishop 
Ziyaye, signed by the committee's chairman, Moses Chikonga, organising 
secretary Kalirangwe Lemani, and Women's welfare officer, Catherine Biliati.

The concerns by the lay Catholics come a few weeks after Limbe Cathedral 
Parish priest, Phillip Mbeta, advised Christians on August 17, not to vote 
for any presidential candidate imposed on the people, and who was using 
handouts to the poor to woo votes.

Mbeta was apparently referring to President Bakili Muluzi, who has been 
giving out free maize, and dishing out money and other gifts during 
campaigns for Bingu Wa Mutharika, the ruling party's presidential hopeful, 
who critics say was handpicked by Muluzi.

"I ask all the Catholic faithful in the country to start praying earnestly 
for the right man to be voted into office, not one imposed on the people," 
Mbeta is reported to have said.

The same advice was offered earlier by another church leader, Bishop Joseph 
Zuza of the Mzuzu Diocese in northern Malawi, on August 3, during a 
confirmation mass at St Peters Cathedral in the small city of Mzuzu.

In his comment, Father Leonard Namwera, who is deputy secretary-general of 
the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, said the sentiments of the priests were 
not the official stand of the Church. The Church he said, uses pastoral 
letters whenever making official points of view.

"Of course priests have a role to teach people on issues of justice and 
peace, but I cannot say that the Church has a stand on which candidate 
people should choose or not," said Namwera, adding that the Catholic Church 
does not get directly involved in partisan politics, but has a duty to 
direct its faithful on moral issues.

However, spokesman for the Blantyre Archdiocese, Monsignor Boniface Tamani, 
referred to The Voice as rebels being influenced by politicians with the 
aim of bringing divisions in the Church.

Tamani, who is also chairman of the faith organisations Public Affairs 
Committee (PAC), said those who do not agree with the church's doctrine and 
sermons on politics, justice and peace were free to go, and should stop 
calling themselves Catholics.

"We preach that people should be converted and not condone corruption, but 
this group is supporting the ills that the Church is preaching against," he 
argued.

Reported by Hobbs Gama

  ICG Warns Of Possible Resumption Of War In Sudan

NAIROBI (AANA) September 22 - The International Crisis Group (ICG), a body 
that observes crises across the world, has warned that the Sudan crisis 
could burst into a full-scale war if the latest round peace talks does not 
achieve a  peace deal.

The warning came before the signing of an agreement between the government 
and the Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on September 17, for 
the Darfur region, and allowing humanitarian access to about 500,000 
originally cut off.

At a press conference in Nairobi on September 6, the group said these were 
the only Sudanese talks attended by most high-ranking officials from the 
both sides. SPLM/A Leader John Garang' and the Sudanese First 
Vice-President, Ali Osman Taha, have been engaged in private talks to iron 
out sticking issues in the peace process.

"If the talks collapse, it will be the responsibility of specific 
individuals," said the group spokesperson, John Prendagast.

"If no deal is signed this time, the process could collapse for good. The 
rebels are ready to sign a peace deal, unlike the government for the 
obvious reason - that they have a military advantage."

Last Monday, SPLM/A leader, John Garang, said it was a difficult encounter 
with Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, but that they had talked frankly in 
their two weeks of consultations aimed at smoothening the peace process.

"The situation is difficult for both sides attending the talks," Garang 
told reporters in Naivasha, about 85 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, 
where he has been negotiating with Taha since September 4.

The two leaders have been discussing the possibility of integrating the 
rebel forces into the national army during an already agreed six-year 
interim period of self-rule for southern Sudan.  However, this will take 
effect when a comprehensive peace accord is signed.

The two have not agreed on sharing of power and resources during the 
interim period, which was agreed in a landmark peace deal signed in the 
Kenyan town of Machakos in July last year.

Reported by Muuna Wamuli

CCAP Excommunicates UDF Legislator For Politicking

BLANTYRE (AANA) September 22 -	Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central 
Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Malawi has excommunicated a flamboyant ruling 
United Democratic Front (UDF) party Member of Parliament for Blantyre City 
South for failing to substantiate allegations that the Synod head, Rev 
Daniel Gunya, is bankrolling an opposition party campaign.

The Synod General Secretary, Rev Gunya, who has come under attack from the 
ruling party for his open criticisms against the government's economic 
policies, confirmed Elwyn Maluwa's excommunication, and said the decision 
was made by a disciplinary committee,  comprising members from the Synod.

"It is true that Honourable Maluwa has been excommunicated. He failed to 
give evidence to the disciplinary hearing on his allegation that I and the 
Synod were funding NDA (National Democratic Alliance)," said Gunya.

But in interview, Maluwa, who was a Church elder, said he has no problem 
with the Church's decision and will join a religious denomination of his 
choice, pointing out that he does not worship individuals.

"You see, God is wonderful and merciful. He created so many churches in 
Malawi, so that when you are in bad books with one, you can join the 
other...," said Maluwa, adding, "After all, I do not praise Gunya, I praise 
the Almighty."

The disciplinary committee summoned Maluwa to substantiate his accusations 
during a rally addressed by President Bakili Muluzi recently, that Gunya is 
using CCAP money to fund NDA.  He was also required to clarify his 
statement that Muluzi is treating Gunya with "Kid gloves", while he would 
love to be given the green light "to deal with Gunya".

Maluwa had been cautioned twice before by his congregation after he accused 
the CCAP clergy of being "ungrateful to President Muluzi", when the Church 
issued out a hard-hitting pastoral letter in 2001.

He had also been warned over his conduct in Parliament in July 2002, when 
he asked the National Assembly Speaker to kick out CCAP clergy from the 
August House.  Maluwa ignored the disciplinary committee's advice that he 
should go public, either through the same public radio or newspaper, to 
apologise.

"I told them that I can only go public to say I was wrong to have said the 
things I said at a rally, but otherwise, whatever I said was nothing but 
the truth, because I am a straightforward person," he said.

Maluwa becomes the second politician in a decade to be excommunicated from 
Blantyre Synod for public rally utterances, after a former ruling party 
(Malawi Congress Party) senior official (now deceased) was expelled from 
the Church during the transition from one party system to multiparty in 1993.

Mean while, Livingstonia Synod, a partner to Blantyre Synod in the General 
Assembly of the CCAP, has declared its "unwavering support" for Gunya and 
"all those who are standing for the truth and justice".

Reported by Prince Jamali

  Team Moves To Help Kenya In Comprehensive AIDS War

NAIROBI (AANA) September 22 - A team of 40 African Americans, led by Rev 
Julian Dan Garfield, the executive director of Shalom Outreach, has teamed 
up with Kenyans to launch a multi-faceted fight against HIV\AIDS.

Shalom Outreach is an America-based non-governmental organisation, whose 
aim is to assist young people to abstain from sex untill marriage, and to 
offer counselling on how to live positively with HIV/AIDS.

The organisation is partnering with various groups in the country to make 
the event a success. The approach will involve working closely with 
Ministry of Education, Youth For Christ, Family Media, Crises Pregnancy 
Ministries Kenya, among other church organisations.

The team is scheduled to cover schools in Nairobi, where emphasis will be 
placed on abstinence from sex.	In Meru town, about 200 km from Nairobi, 
the group will focus on medical treatment and community-based programmes.

In Kisumu, western Kenya, the approach will involve stressing the role of 
men in the fight against HIV/AIDS, while in the port of Mombasa, the 
programme will focus on orphanages, hospitals and communities.

"This comprehensive approach to war on HIV/AIDS is in compliance with the 
strategy of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC)," said Rev Garfield in 
a press statement.

In an exclusive interview with AANA last week, Rev Garfield expressed 
concern that the plan will stress youth participation because they were the 
ones mostly being killed by the scourge.

Asked about his view on the impact of homosexuality on the spread of HIV, 
Rev Garfield said that he was intending to find a way of changing public 
perceptions on the subject, in order to get rid of "denial and bias".

"In USA, homosexuality is a lifestyle commonly accepted," he asserted, 
pledging to challenge homosexuals in Kenya to come openly for counselling 
and treatment. This, he said, will help curb the spread of HIV through anal 
sex.

The Shalom Outreach Programme, which started on September 16, is expected 
to continue until September 26.

Reported by Joseph Karanja