wfn.org | CHAIR OF AFRICAN UNION DELIVERS KEYNOTE AT AACC OPENING

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For Immediate Release
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CHAIR OF AFRICAN UNION DELIVERS KEYNOTE AT AACC OPENING

November 23, 2003, Yaounde, Cameroon (AANA) - Africa is responsible for
its current woes and should not put the blame on the past colonial
governments, President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, who is also
currently the chairman of the Africa Union (AU), said in his keynote
address today (Nov. 23) at the opening of the All Africa Conference of
Churches 8th Assembly.

The Prime Minister of Cameroon, Peter Mafany Musonge, also addressed the
Assembly on behalf of the country’s President, Paul Biya, and had the
honor of declaring the AACC’s 8th Assembly officially open.  He said
the
government recognizes the fundamental role the churches play in the
spiritual and moral uplift of citizens and in addressing poverty,
joblessness, HIV/AIDS, corruption and other ills.

And the Rev. Dr. Joseph Mfochive, President of the Federation of
Evangelical (Protestant) Churches and Missions in Cameroon, shared his
fervent hope that the AACC’s Yaounde Assembly be "the point of
departure
for a dynamic plan for participation in Africa’s reconstruction and the
building of peace, unity and justice."

The Mozambican president said the Assembly theme, "Come, let us rebuild,"
had provoked his thought to ask the question: "Who destroyed Africa?' for
it to be rebuilt. He said the story of Jerusalem as recorded in the Book
of Nehemiah Chapter 2 was that the aggressors had destroyed it.  In
Africa's case, even though the colonial governments subdued Africans, they
helped in the construction of infrastructures such as roads, bridges,
schools, which they left intact when the Africans fought for liberation
and won.

He took his country as a case in point in which, after the colonial ruler
(s) left, the Africans themselves took to destroy what had been built such
as the roads and bridges in their civil wars that took 16 years to end.
The roads and bridges they were now talking of rebuilding were all
destroyed by the Mozambican themselves, he said.

He gave a host of other examples where civil wars had caused destruction
of the countries, namely Namibia, Nigeria with the Biafra war, Eritrea,
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Sudan,
among others. Besides, aggression from neighbouring countries also
facilitated Africa's destruction, he said.

President Chissano said the reason why Africa continued to destroy itself
is that the people are not yet prepared to leave selfishness but are self-
centered with no solidarity to rally them together in unity.

Said the President: "We need to build the sense of solidarity among
ourselves as the people of Africa, to rebuild our hearts."

Referring to the Assembly logo, which depicted hands of two people holding
bricks in the rebuilding of Africa, President Chissano said it was a sign
the Church needed to "mobilize each one of us to come together with
bricks – which are the hearts of each of us.

"Each must bring a brick to build Africa and its families," he said. "Then
the wars of destruction will stop.  And then we will start talking about
Come and BUILD."

He said the Church has been all along in partnership with the state in the
transformation of the continent and at no one time were the two apart.
Reflecting the mood of the theme, President Chissano said, coming to
rebuild is only achievable through unity and "that is what NEPAD (New
Partnership for Africa's Development) is all about, for sustainable
development."

He reasserted that "we are not re-inventing the wheel in calling for
partnership with the Church ...it has been there."

He said that the Church had the capacity of mobilizing people from the
grassroots in the countries and recognized it as an advantage. Further, he
said the Church was experienced in the provision of services such as
education and health, which he added were crucial for development. He
invited the churches to help NEPAD in its endeavor to provide health
services for all, and in improving education to become appropriate for
Africa's development agenda.

President Chissano underscored the close link between peace and
development, saying one could not talk about development if there was no
peace. Wars undermines development policies, observed the Mozambican leader

Paying glowing tribute to AACC for its role, the President said history
recognize the involvement of the AACC in the liberation struggle of
Africa's nations, including Mozambique. The AACC was also instrumental in
negotiating peace in war-torn states like his country Mozambique during
the 16-year war with RENAMO rebels, and in which the signing of the peace
accord was done in the hands of the Church. He said the birth of the AACC
in 1963 just prior to the establishment of the Organization of African
Unity was not a coincidence

He said New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), like the Church,
stood for peace and stability. He noted that peace does not mean the
absence of gunfire but a culture of peace, tolerance, democracy and
respect for human rights.

He underscored a programme that was undertaken by the Christian Council of
Mozambique that transformed guns into hoes and led many combatants to drop
their guns for the hoes. It also turned many former soldiers into
productive citizens for the country. Its success, he said, was seen in the
destruction of thousands of guns. He urged that the same approach be used
in those countries that are still coming out of war situations.

He appealed to the churches to help mobilize resources for the development
of Africa and invited them to work hand in hand with governments. He
revisited the issue of debt and appealed for debt relief so that Africa
could utilize funds it used to service the debt for its development.

"We encourage the AACC to strengthen its ability to meet the challenges of
poverty, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, crime, drugs and domestic violence, among
other challenges, " he said, drawing applause.

President Chissano called upon Africans to preserve their indigenous
knowledge and use it in the development of the continent, acknowledging
that culture was essential part in the development process. He observed
that many of Africa's problems were as a result of people abandoning their
culture and copying others. He said Africa's culture was that of peace and
that the "Church should be in the forefront to see that our culture is not
lost."

In the same breath, he called upon the Church to embrace the Christian
religion within the context of Africa's culture but added that those
cultural practices that are harmful must be discarded.

Giving his own experience as a Catholic, he said he could not understand a
word in the Church's worship when it was done in Latin, a culture brought
by the missionaries. He blamed Africans for sticking to such cultures
without changing them over a period. He observed that it was the same with
Islam where Muslims refused to translate the Koran into other languages,
only praying in Arabic.

He implored Africans not to confuse "our cultures, which are full of
values," but added that wrong things should not be preserved in the name
of culture.

He took the opportunity to challenge the AACC to help in the fight against
HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and other vices.

AANA	 By Joseph K'Amolo