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Africa: Tutu Speech to AACC (Excerpts)
Africa: Tutu Speech to AACC (Excerpts)
Date distributed (ymd): 971106
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+ +security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a speech to the All Africa Conference of Churches
by its outgoing President, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Archbishop Tutu holds
out hope for Africa despite its problems, and calls on his listeners to
"show the world that Africa is a giant awaking."
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
All Africa Conference of Churches
P.O. Box 14205
Nairobi, Kenya
AACC E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
E-mail inquiries (Archbishop Tutu's office): [email protected]
TROUBLED BUT NOT DESTROYED
AACC GENERAL ASSEMBLY - OCTOBER 1997
Preamble and Appreciation
When Jose and I were elected in 1987 at the Lome Assembly you might
say that the AACC was definitely troubled, deeply troubled, and on the
verge of ignominious collapse, somehow reflecting the parlous state of
mother Africa, our beloved continent derided by many as the Dark Continent.
This referred not so much to the complexions of its indigenous inhabitants
but to the fact that it was regarded as the continent of ignorance, superstition,
witchcraft and idolatry. Someone wrote quite boldly and dismissively that
Africans were quite incapable of the sublime and noble thoughts about deity
and that therefore the benighted natives were devoid of any religion worthy
of the name. We hope most people know differently now about the African
Weltanschanung that is so deeply spiritual and theistic.
The AACC was, it seemed then, on the verge of collapse. Staff morale
was at rock bottom, the organisation had lost considerable credibility
amongst our friends overseas who had helped to keep us solvent, and we
were on the verge of bankruptcy reflected in the eyesore of the incomplete
office block of the circular building in Nairobi. This stood as a stark
reminder, like some gaunt scarecrow in the field, seeming to poke fun at
the churches in Africa which had had the cheek, the presumptuousness, of
aping their more affluent sisters and brothers elsewhere by setting up
a continental ecumenical body. The AACC as it stood in Lome after doing
quite sterling work among youth and women on the continent, brokering peace
among warring factions as in the Sudan, providing much needed succour to
the endless lines of refugees, appeared to be suffering from a terminal
disease, buffetted by all sorts of malignant forces and ready to give up
the ghost.
I was amazed at Lome though by a remarkable phenomenon. Despite all
the awfulness in the parlous state of their organisation, the member churches
had not given up on the AACC. They came in their quite extraordinary numbers,
they were vibrant and they refused to throw in the towel and give up. They
were not despondent despite all the gloomy news and so they elected Jose
Chipenda to be the new General Secretary and what an outstanding job he
has done supported by Eva. He has turned our revered AACC around. In next
to no time the finances were reorganised and the AACC was solvent again.
With the support of a tremendous team of colleagues the organisation began
regaining credibility amongst our donor partners overseas, demonstrated
in the fact that the eyesore I referred to earlier, the incomplete office
block, was soon finished and the AACC moved to this new accommodation leaving
the old block with three additional floors available for renting out to
provide income for us.
...
Our Context
Africa is part of the world and ours is increasingly the global village
where something happening in one part has immediate repercussions in most
other parts. A car accident in France brought the world to a standstill.
We give thanks for the life of Princess Diana who sought to help rid the
world of the scourge of land mines and visited Angola in that campaign.
And also for Mother Theresa who incarnated compassion and caring for the
poor and the derelicts.
For so long we lived in a bipolar world the East vs the West in the
era of the Cold War. Now we inhabit a uni-polar world with the USA the
only bull in the kraal. And that has put pressure on many countries to
democratise if they wanted to get a hearing about aid, etc. Africa has
also had to come to terms with so-called globalisation, the expansion of
the hegemony of the multinational corporations, the insistent call for
a free market economy where the shots keep being called by the affluent
and powerful to the detriment of producer countries so vulnerable to the
dictates of the mighty - so frequently they make the rules by which the
game is to be played, but more than this they end up being the umpire as
well. The odds are thus heavily stacked against Africa and other parts
of the developing world. The new GATT Accord and the ratification of the
European Union has serious implications for Africa and the developing world,
since the survival of the Lome Convention is at stake. If it is not renewed
after the year 2000 non-subsidised Africa will face unfair competition
from subsidised US products.
Africa was almost totally ignored in the recent IMF and World Bank meetings
which concentrated on Asian problems. Africa and other developing lands
stagger under the increasing burden of international debt. The world missed
an opportunity when the UN celebrated its golden jubilee to invoke the
biblical Jubilee principle to cancel the debts of poor nations to give
them the opportunity of making a fresh start.
The Current Situation since 1992
We were euphoric as freedom and democracy seemed to break out in all
sorts of places. There was the wonder of the miracle in South Africa when
Nelson Mandela won the first democratic elections in that land and the
scourge of apartheid ended. We give thanks as South Africa to all of you
for your prayers, love and support. Without these we would never have become
free. Our victory is your victory.
The front line states paid a heavy price for our freedom and all Africa
deserves a very big thank you for having accepted South Africans as refugees,
placing extra pressure on already limited resources. Thank you very much.
Malawi moved from dictatorship to democracy largely because of the courageous
work of the Christian-Muslim Public Affairs Committee. Angolans after a
protracted and debilitating civil war signed the Lusaka Protocol. The WCC
and AACC played pivotal roles to help bring this about. As we sit here
a Government of National Unity has been formed though we must still hold
our breath because the peace accord is fragile and vulnerable.
The churches played a crucial role in peacemaking and political transformation
in Mozambique leading to the election of a democratic government. It was
not surprising that two Mozambican church leaders won the first AACC Peace
Prize. Mozambique is getting along nicely.
We were thrilled when Sierra Leone moved from military rule to civilian
government. Alas this has not lasted since a military coup has happened
there recently. We hang our heads in shame at the awful genocide that happened
in Rwanda. God's people are still suffering in Rwanda and Burundi because
of ethnic violence but the churches are seeking to work for reconciliation
and peace.
Uganda is rising from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix and praise
be to God that multiparty democracy has come to Tanzania and peacefully
at that.
Our own Bishop Tilewa Johnson has played a prominent part in the democratic
process in the Gambia and is currently the Chairperson of the Electoral
Commission. The churches and other organisations are in the forefront of
agitation for a more democratic Constitution in Kenya and we pray that
true freedom may come in Swaziland and stability in Lesotho. Botswana is
one of our prides in its economic and political stability.
The religious community was critical in the developments that saw the
departure of President Mobutu and the accession of President Kabila - Ngoy
Mulunda was instrumental in arranging various meetings between the new
President and the church leaders and it all helped to ensure that there
was hardly any bloodshed as the Kabila forces entered Kinshasa. We pray
that the expectations of God's people will not be shattered yet again.
It has been wonderful to meet in a democratic Ethiopia and to continue
to celebrate freedom and autonomy in Eritrea.
We are deeply distressed at the continuing carnage in Algeria and pray
that God will move our Muslim sisters and brothers to find a peace they
can share and we hope that the OAU can intervene effectively there. What
a thorough disgrace continues to prevail in Nigeria, a land that should
be the undisputed leader in Africa with all the many outstanding and gifted
persons. This giant of Africa is becoming renowned for corruption, injustice
and oppression and it is ironical that Nigeria helped to bring peace to
Liberia and are seeking to do so through ECOWAS in Sierra Leone. Nigerians
are fighting abroad for democracy and against military rule which they
are not allowed to enjoy at home.
What a joy to celebrate the end of that long war in Liberia. Again the
religious communities were pivotal in helping to bring this about.
When will our sisters and brothers in the Sudan, in Somalia and elsewhere
know the joys of peace? And why is there so much unrest in Tongo and Brazzaville?
We give thanks for the continuing stability and peace in Ghana which led
Africa in throwing off the shackles of colonialism.
Whither Africa?
Yes, our continent still has problems - the problems of poverty, disease
(Aids), malnutrition, ethnic strife, military rule producing the endless
lines of pathetic refugees. This has given rise to so called Afro-pessimism
and donor fatigue. But we must not despair. You know we do have massive
problems but we are in fact not peculiar. There are the awfulnesses of
Cambodia, the oppressive rules in East Timor and Burma. There is ongoing
carnage in Northern Ireland, in Sri Lanka, and what about Bosnia and Chechniya.
Europe is seeing the upsurge of xenophobia and blatant racism and they
are still finding peace elusive in the Middle East. I am not saying we
should gloat; no we must weep because of all these ghastly things in other
lands, but we must not be filled with self-loathing, with a negative self-image.
God did not make a mistake in creating us black, in making us Africans.
We are black and African we must say black and African - this is beautiful.
We must be proud that God created us as who we are. God has endowed our
continent and its inhabitants with wonderful gifts.
Nowhere else in the world have they got a Truth and Reconciliation Commission
such as we have in Africa in South Africa. The world marvels to behold
the extraordinary magnanimity, the nobility of spirit that is ready to
forgive the enemy. A Nelson Mandela is kept in gaol for 27 years and comes
out not filled with bitterness with a lust for revenge, but is ready to
forgive those who wronged him so grievously. It is found not just in South
Africa. After the bruising bush war in the old Rhodesia people were astonished
by the magnanimity of a Robert Mugabe who after his electoral victory spoke
not of revenge but of reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
We saw the same phenomenon in the post Mau Mau uhuru Kenya of Jomo Kenyatta
and also in Namibia where what had been depicted as a Marxist demon became
our smiling President Sam Nujoma. We have a gift we can give to the world
- ubuntu, the essence of being human where my humanity is caught up in
your humanity, where a person is a person through other persons because
we are made for family, for togetherness, for friendship, for harmony,
for sharing, for generosity and hospitality. We are made for complementarity
we should celebrate our diversity, our very rich diversity for we each
make up what is lacking in the other. Wonderful!
Yes, we face daunting problems but some are of our own making. We must
stand firmly and courageously for freedom, democracy and justice. There
is no way that oppression and injustice can have the last word. We saw
it in so many countries and especially in South Africa: military dictators
will bite the dust without doubt and they will do so ignominiously. All
God's people one day will be free and that freedom releases all kinds of
energies in the people. When the rulers are accountable to the people,
when the people participate in all important decision making directly and
through their freely elected representatives then you get stability, you
get a proud people, you get prosperity.Freedom is cheaper than repression.
You don't spend so much on your security. Your people are all your bodyguards.
Let us allow God's people to enjoy their God given inalienable right
to freedom.
Africa must reduce its armed forces. Yes, let there be defence forces
against external aggression. Our armies in Africa, sadly, hardly ever protect
the people. They are used against those they should protect. Soldiers must
remain in barracks. Soldiers know nothing about government. Soldiers know
how to fight, how to kill. If African countries are friendly to once another
which enemy should you fear? Let us reduce our defence budgets and use
these resources for more important projects - more homes, schools, clinics,
dams, good roads, etc.
I called long ago for the cancellation of the crippling debt we have
had to bear for so long. There are others who have joined their voices
in this campaign. There is something called Jubilee 2000. We ask our friends
who have stood by us in the dark days of oppression and injustice. This
is the new moral crusade to have the debt cancelled following the biblical
principle of Jubilee. Basically it says everything belongs to God - all
debts and mortgages must be cancelled in the Jubilee year to give the debtors
a chance to make a new beginning.
I suggested that there should be a six month moratorium on debt repayments
just to make sure that this cancellation would benefit the people not some
new elite.
The conditions would be :
a True democratisation - when it is clear that the people participate
in decision making;
b Human rights are respected;
c The money saved is used directly for the benefit of the so-called
ordinary people;
d and we demilitarise.
If these conditions are met then the debt should be cancelled.
Let us show the world that Africa is a giant awaking, that Africa is
going to have vibrant markets that it will be the tiger of the future and
that those who help us will be doing themselves a great favour. Let us
refuse to be divided - why identify ourselves as Lusophone, Anglophone,
or Francophone, the colonialists have succeeded in dividing us still. Why
did African countries not support the Bid to bring the Olympic Games to
Africa for the first time in 2004? We are our own worst enemies. Let us
show the world that Africa was traditionally a place that allowed for different
points of view. The good chief was the one who judged consensus correctly.
I have full confidence in the future of Africa because God came to find
a refuge in Africa, because civilisation had its cradle in Africa, because
God loves Africa. Let us throw out the dictators and bring freedom and
justice everywhere for our God does not sleep, does not go on holiday.
Our God is not deaf, our God sees, our God knows and our God comes down
to deliver us. Dictators beware Africa will be free.
Isaiah 42: 1 - 3.
I behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not
quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
End
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups and individuals.
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