wfn.org | All Africa News Agency Dec 8 2003 News

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

ALL AFRICA NEWS AGENCY
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Email: aanaapta@nbnet.co.ke

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

AANA BULLETIN No. 48/03 December 8, 2003 News

NEWS SECTION

Conference Of Churches To Get Operational Face-Lift

YAOUNDE (AANA) December 8 - The All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) 
concluded its 8th General Assembly here on November 27, with resolutions 
that touch on restructuring of the organisation and its mandate for the 
next five years.

  A final communiqui from the Assembly, thus stated: "The delegates of the 
8th Assembly of the AACC in Yaounde have agreed to restructure and organise 
the AACC so that the continental ecumenical organisation may respond 
appropriately to the challenges that it is facing in this century."

Accordingly, the Assembly endorsed a two-year transitional period for the 
organisation, during which three core areas will be reviewed.

The areas in question include services, communications, and governance. 
Under services, the Assembly endorsed the need to improve the quality of 
programmes, and recommended that the range of services that the 
organisation offers be strategically linked with other players at regional 
and national level.

In communications, the Assembly passed that attention be given to more 
effective ways of sharing information within the secretariat, as well as 
between the AACC and member churches, and other partners.

That matters of representation at various levels should be seriously 
attended to, was the focus under governance.

The Assembly agreed that a "Transitional Task Force Committee" be formed by 
carefully selecting representatives from all regions, to accompany the 
process of restructuring.  Each sub-region is expected to recommend "two 
skilled, appropriately qualified and committed persons", who will work with 
a group of consultants to give flesh to the nature, type and content of the 
restructuring process.

Some of the responsibilities of the task force will include development of 
a business plan and remoulding the secretariat.

This will involve re-allocation of staff according to new tasks and 
competence, and development of an appropriate work culture.

Other areas to be looked into include a review of the organisation's 
Communications Training Centre (CTC), and the All Africa News Agency/Agence 
de Presse de Toute l'Afrique (AANA/APTA), which is loosely affiliated to it.

Reported by Joseph K'Amolo
C'wealth Leaders Told To Be Keen On Human Rights Abuses

LAGOS (AANA) December 8 - The biannual Commonwealth Heads of Governments 
Meeting (CHOGM) began in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, on Friday, amid calls 
from various quarters urging the organisation to pay more attention to 
human rights issues in member countries.

In a 40-page report released last week by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the 
Commonwealth leaders were accused of being hypocritical in excluding 
Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, from the meeting, while ignoring 
violence in the host country.

The report accuses the Nigerian government of being responsible for 
killings, torture and harassment of its critics over the last two years.

"Foreign governments remained virtually silent about election violence in 
Nigeria, yet abuses during the Zimbabwe elections provoked widespread 
condemnation," HRW Executive Director for Africa, Peter Takirambudde, stated.

He continued: "Unless the Commonwealth addresses abuses in all of its 
member countries, and denounces them accordingly, it will stand accused of 
maintaining double standards and its credibility will be undermined."

Human rights groups, non-governmental organisations and national human 
rights institutions in Commonwealth countries, also announced the formation 
of a platform to put their concerns directly to CHOGM on a regular basis.

Addressing newsmen at a press conference in Abuja last Tuesday on the 
formation of a Commonwealth Human Rights Forum, Executive Secretary of 
Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission, Mallam Bukhari Bello, 
maintained that "human rights issues are not given enough attention by
CHOGM".

"There should be a proactive mechanism for turning CHOGM's attention to 
human rights abuses," Bello said, explaining that the platform would be 
used to lobby and put important right issues on the Commonwealth agenda.

At the end of a Commonwealth Ideas Conference, one of the activities that 
preceded the Heads of State meeting, participants called for improved 
relations between member countries.

Ignatius Olisaemeka, Nigeria's former foreign affairs minister, decried the 
harsh procedures for granting of visas to Nigerians, by countries like 
Canada and Britain.

He was speaking here last Monday, when he stated: "Let them keep their 
millions, but they should treat us with dignity."

Reported by Lekan Otufodunrin
Botswana's Anglican Church Leaders Denounce Gay Bishop

GABORONE (AANA) December 8 - The Anglican Church in Botswana has joined a 
growing list of African Anglican Provinces that have refused to recognise 
the consecration of Rev V Gene Robinson as Bishop of the Diocese of New 
Hampshire in the United States, because of his sexual orientation.

Robinson went into history books last month when he got consecrated as the 
first openly gay bishop.

Bishop Theophilus Naledi of Botswana, has said that his diocese does not 
recognise the consecration of Robinson.

"The Anglicans in Botswana believe that the only valid marriage is between 
a man and a woman, and that is what the Bible teaches," said Naledi, 
adding, "We do not condone any other sexual relationship or form of 
marriage that does not involve a man and a woman."

He said Anglicans in Botswana believe that sexual relationships between 
same sexes are "ungodly, unnatural, unbiblical and not in conformity with 
the Church's teachings on the subject of marriages".

"We do not accept the practise of homosexuality and that bishop (Robinson). 
We do not recognise him as a bishop, and we would not allow him to minister 
in our church," said Naledi.

The Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Central Africa, Bernard Malango, 
has also made it clear to the Diocese of New Hempshire that his province 
does not recognise Robinson, and will have no ties with him or his 
diocese.  Malango presides over Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Other Anglican Provinces that have been vocal against Robinson's 
consecration include Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya.

Robinson's consecration has been received with hostility that is 
threatening to split the Anglican Church.  He has openly admitted to being 
a practising gay, and is said to have been living with a gay partner for 
the past 13 years.

Reported by Rodrick Mukumbira

Malawi To Amend Act To Cut Civil Service Funeral Costs

BLANTYRE (AANA) December 8 - Malawi's labour authorities are planning to 
review the country's Employment Act of 2000, in order to accommodate 
sections that would limit the amount of time spent in burial arrangements 
by workers, as the civil service continues to face rising deaths due to AIDS.

Zebron Kambuto, Commissioner for the Ministry of Labour and Vocational 
Training, said here recently that frequent absenteeism, time spent by 
workers attending funerals of their deceased colleagues, and the money 
spent by various departments on burial, were costing the state heavily, 
hence the need to amend the Act.

"We have been discussing this issue for the past few years.  Now we think 
of lobbying parliament to change the Act and minimise funeral expenditure," 
said Kambuto.

The proposed amendment will provide for the burying of deceased workers and 
any members of their families, in the localities where they work, instead 
of ferrying bodies to homes of origin, as has been the case.

Traditionally, Malawians take it a sacred norm to lay the dead "close to 
the spirits of their ancestors", a factor that has been emphasised by 
opponents of the proposed review of the Employment Act.

"Others suggested that employers establish cooling storage facilities for 
dead bodies so that funerals can be conducted during weekends and save time 
to maintain the tradition. This we do not think can work in the present 
economic situation," Kambuto explained.

The Ministry of Education, with 60,000 members of staff out of the total 
120,000 civil service workforce, is the hardest hit with AIDS-related 
deaths, incurring a burden on the already strained national coffers.

Education minister, George Ntafu, revealed that almost 2,000 teachers were 
dying each month due to AIDS, a situation he described as "disastrous".

"It is sad that this is happening at a time when the government is 
implementing the free primary education programme that needs increased 
number of teachers to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio," Ntafu said.

Meanwhile, major faith groups in the country have resolved that they will 
continue to encourage abstinence among unmarried youth, and urge couples to 
remain faithful to one another, as the prime options to check the spread of 
the disease.

Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), Fr Robert 
Mwaungulu, has said that they will continue to preach against condom use 
because they look at sexuality "against the moral values and teachings of 
the Church".

Fr Mwaungulu made the remarks on November 28, at the close of a five-day 
churches' conference on HIV/AIDS, attended by the Malawi Council of 
Churches (MCC), Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM), and ECM.

Another Catholic priest, Fr Phillip Mbeta, asked the government, 
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and donors to provide funding for the 
purchase of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), and distribute them free to the 
affected poor masses.

"We have now reached a crisis stage where government, NGOs, employers and 
donors must act urgently to distribute anti-retrovirals to the majority 
poor, who cannot afford their high costs," said Fr Mbeta, who spoke in his 
capacity as chairman of the conference organising committee.

The conference, bearing the theme, Breaking Silence with Love and 
Compassion, was tailored to promote development and advocacy skills among 
religious communities; to inspire people to create rights-based and 
gender-sensitive strategies and action on HIV/AIDS; and to raise awareness 
and knowledge on the pandemic.

Reported by Hobbs Gama

Rights Body Takes Issue With Sudan Govt Over Darfur Crisis

DARFUR/NAIROBI (AANA) December 8 - Amnesty International (AI) has accused 
the Sudan government for the human rights abuses and humanitarian crisis in 
Darfur, in western Sudan.

In a press statement released on November 27 after a fact-finding mission 
from refugee camps in eastern Chad, the AI noted: "At the very least the 
Sudanese government has totally failed in its obligation to protect its own 
people."

The statement continues: "The testimonies of scores of refugees describing 
attacks on rural communities by militias, which included members of the 
armed forces or other security forces, has led us to the bleak conclusion 
that at least some elements in the army are encouraging this devastation."

Since April, some 500,000 refugees fleeing nomad militias, usually known by 
the local people as "Arabs" or Janjawid (armed men on horseback), have 
flooded into towns in Darfur, while others have crossed the border to Chad.

AI representative visited nine settlements in eastern Chad, from Tine in 
the north, to Birkengi in the south.

They spoke to refugees (including members of an Arab group which had 
refused to join the militias), Chad government officials and 
representatives of United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations.

"The refugees are in an extremely vulnerable position. They have little or 
no food, and difficult access to water.  They live in precarious shelters 
and suffer badly from the cold at night," the AI press release stated, 
adding: "There have also been cross-border raids by militias."

In Chad, there has only been a limited distribution of food and non-food 
items to the most vulnerable refugees in a few sites.

Some displaced persons have not yet been accessed by the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the local authorities because of 
poor road infrastructure and lack of adequate transport to long distances.

"Refugee after refugee, in widely scattered areas, told how militias armed 
with Kalashnikovs and other weapons, including bazookas, often dressed in 
green army uniforms, raided villages, burnt houses and crops, and killed 
people and cattle," reported AI.

"We had numerous descriptions of deliberate killings and allegations of 
abduction and rape by the Janjawid. Some refugees described how villages 
were bombed by government planes," the human rights body continued.

According to the organisation, "the situation in Darfur is at risk of 
rapidly degenerating into a full-scale civil war, where ethnicity is 
manipulated, and some will want to take revenge for those killed, seek arms 
to defend themselves, or join armed opposition groups".

AI expressed concern that the attacks were creating a major humanitarian 
disaster. Many attacks have happened before farmers were able to harvest.

"Fields have been burnt, people killed and cattle looted, and homes 
destroyed. On top of this, the government is severely restricting 
humanitarian access to the displaced," pointed out the organisation, 
calling upon the international community to intervene.

Reported by Henry Neondo

GAVI Resumes Funding To Kenya's Immunisation Project

NAIROBI (AANA) December 8 - The Global Alliance for Vaccines and 
Immunisation (GAVI), announced on November 28 that Kenya has been 
readmitted into its funding mechanism, after a year of suspension triggered 
by a lack of reliable information on performance.

Making the announcement in Nairobi after a one-week tour of Tanzania and 
Kenya, Tore Godal, the Executive Secretary of GAVI said "Kenya now has 
taken measures that would substantially improve its information systems and 
accurately report on coverage".

Godal noted that his tour in the region saw an improved strategy aimed at 
increased coverage in the immunisation of children.

Citing Tanzania as an example, he said that the country "has over the last 
few years managed to put in place fast funds disbursement mechanisms to the 
grassroots local level, computerised its information systems, and managed 
to have 90 percent immunisation coverage".

Poor information system and ineffective performance saw Kenya lose out 
funding in 2002.  This, according to Dr James Nyikal, the Director of 
Medical Services, has created a US$ 30 million gap in the country's 
immunisation programme.  Immunisation in Kenya stands at 80 percent after 
years of dwindling performance.

GAVI, an alliance made of public-private partnerships, was launched in 2000 
to fight declining immunisation rates and growing disparities in access to 
vaccines among the world's poorest countries.

According to GAVI, of all vaccine preventable diseases, measles remains the 
leading cause of death among children.

Annually, measles affects over 30 million children, and claims over 745,000 
lives, more than half of them in Africa.

Godal said that to qualify for performance-based funding, countries must be 
able to prove that they are reaching more children.

But in many developing countries, systems to track and monitor delivery of 
health services and vital health statistics are lacking.

Reported by Henry Neondo

Irate Bishops Issue A Hard-Hitting Pastoral Statement

HARARE (AANA) December 8 - Catholic bishops in Zimbabwe have issued a 
pastoral statement calling on Zimbabwean authorities and the community at 
large, to uphold the four pillars of peace, namely truth, justice, love and 
freedom, in commemoration of a 40-year old Encyclical by Pope John XXIII.

The pastoral statement, titled Peace in a Divided Zimbabwe, was released 
here on November 30.  It talks of the current social and political ills the 
southern African country is currently facing.

"We cannot have a lasting peace without truth, justice, love and freedom. 
These four pillars enable us to build a society that is more humane and 
peaceful. The Government has a responsibility to create an environment 
where individuals - children, men and women - learn, appreciate and develop 
in them, a culture of truth, justice, love and freedom," say the Catholic 
clergymen in their four-page document.

The statement continues: "We, the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe, speak to 
you at a time when life in Zimbabwe is at its lowest ebb. The political 
situation is tense, the economic situation is chaotic, and the social 
situation is unbearable for the majority of the people."

In the hard-hitting statement, the bishops have noted that Zimbabweans are 
suffering economic, social and political ills, saying: "The poor are 
getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer....Inflation has gone out 
of hand, (there is ) scarcity of cash, taxes erode salaries, and the 
poverty datum line is unmanageable."

The clergymen have urged Zimbabweans to make serious effort to redress 
these elements, which will disrupt peace during the forthcoming Advent 
(Christmas) season.

Reported by Osman Njuguna

Crusaders Want Govt To Relax Laws On Community Media

NAIROBI (AANA) December 8 - Crusaders for community media in Kenya want the 
government to create an enabling legislative and policy environment, to 
spur the growth of the media sub-sector, as a way of bridging the 
rural-urban information gap.

They are calling on the government to give preferential legislation, 
including tax exemptions on technological equipment, expeditious licensing 
procedures, and direct government funding, saying community media are 
essential for empowering the rural community, which is good for development 
and democratic growth.

A Community media workshop, held here recently, urged the government to 
resolve the issue through the tabling of a Media Broadcasting Bill 
developed in l997, and making subsidiary legislation for the print media 
based on suggestions from stakeholders.

A media expert, Rose Lukalo, said it was important to devolve information 
to the rural poor by strengthening community media, adding that the rural 
people also had a story to tell about their daily experiences, which the 
urban based mainstream media had no room and time for.

The workshop, organised by the Kenya Community Media Network (KCOMNET) and 
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), brought key proponents of the community 
media initiative and government representatives, including the Director of 
Information, Mr George Opiyo, who represented the Minister for Information, 
Mr Raphael Tuju.

The minister said in a speech read by Mr Opiyo, that the government 
recognised the important role an enhanced community media could play in 
development, and in deepening people's understanding of democracy.  He 
promised to work with stakeholders in addressing the concerns raised.

Tuju conceded that the media regulatory framework was weak even for the 
mainstream private and public media, pointing out that the pieces of 
legislation for the sector were still scattered in various ministries.	He 
said the situation would be harmonised.

Many participants noted that besides unclear and cumbersome media 
legislation, challenges inhibiting the growth of community media included 
high cost of equipment, inadequate research on the information needs of the 
communities, lack of power and telephone facilities in rural areas, and 
inadequate training for journalists to handle community media issues

Some experts dismissed the government's often felt fears that community 
media could be used to enhance ethnic hatred and political animosity, 
saying this would be taken care of by legislation and a code of ethics for 
practitioners.

KCOMNET Co-ordinator, Grace Githaiga, said only one community radio 
station, based at Mtito Andei in the coastal region, had been licensed by 
the government, but after a six-year struggle.	Even then, noted Githaiga, 
the station was yet to go on air due to continued frustrations by the 
Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the body that allocates 
communication frequencies.

Community media growth in Kenya has been stunted by past suspicions by 
previous governments, which feared such media would deny them an 
information stranglehold on the majority rural populace, as maintained 
through the state-controlled Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

Private print media has not been effective in penetrating the rural areas 
due to poor infrastructure, while the available private radio and TV 
stations only manage to cover the major urban centres.

Proponents of community media cite successful initiatives in Tanzania, 
Uganda, and South Africa, arguing that community radio stations and 
newspapers can be used in galvanising rural communities to participate in 
development, besides offering the government and elected leaders channels 
of interaction with the rural majority.

Reported by William Janak