May 5, 2003

The world has been plunged into an international crisis marked by terrorism and militarism. As a result, the momentum towards the realization of the NEPAD (New Partnership for Development) dream has been interrupted.

This observation was made in Nairobi by Rev Dr Frank Chikane, the Director General in the Office of the President, South Africa. Dr Chikane was a guest speaker at the fundraising dinner and celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the All Africa Conference of Churches on Saturday evening (May 3).

Dr Chikane who is also Secretary to the South African Cabinet recalled that "the newly born baby called NEPAD was tempered by the new dark cloud of the tragic event of September 11."

He went on, "for about a year, many of us who were in the engine room of this noble African project hoped against hope that the response to the September 11 and the possible consequences would not put this noble African project on the back burner and thus set us back many years. We hoped that September 11 would not reverse all the gains many generations of activists fought for, suffered for or even died for."

Dr Chikane noted that the last six months "suggest that what we feared would happen is about to engulf us. New forms of terrorism and war as a means of resolving human problems have returned." In war and terrorism, he added, "moral standards become recalibrated to lower levels. Here the noble ideas of human rights are bound to be the first casualty."

He wondered "how does one explain the many innocent Kenyans, Tanzanians and other nationals who died in recent terror attacks in this region? How does one explain the tragic deaths of ordinary US citizens and other nationals during the September 11 attacks in the USA. How are we going to explain to the twelve-year old Iraqi boy that he had to loose his limbs and go through excruciating and unimaginable pain for us to deal with the threats of our time? How do we deal with the fear that all of us now have to even raise the questions I am raising," he went on.

He asked, "what happened to our freedom of speech, freedom of thought and the cherished right to express one's opinion? What about the United Nations system that was supposed to maintain international peace and security? What about the rights and the sovereignty of smaller and weaker States the UN system was expected to guarantee."

Dr Chikane expressed the fear that "our little light of hope could be smothered by the weight of this new international crisis. The reality is that this is no ordinary crisis. It is a kairos, a moment of truth, which calls on all of us to make choices and act decisively."

He called for a new way of theologising, which speaks to the African situation. "It calls for an enhanced African spirituality, which can enable Africa to be self-confident and strong. It calls on us to seek God's wisdom and guidance to intervene in a way that will bring back to the course of justice, peace and righteousness."

Referring to Africa Renaissance, he said, we need to put all we can into believing that the Lord will make a way for it to survive. Statements made by the major players in the crisis of our time suggests that our course is so morally correct, that even in the midst of all this, none can find fault in it. No one with some sense of morality can, in good conscience gainsay that moral right of the African people, who have suffered so much in the last 500 years or so to develop themselves, grow their economies and better the lives of their people."

He went on, let me reiterate that our course is a just one. It is a moral one. It is people oriented. It represents the basic thrust of the message of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we are called upon to pursue it with all that which the Lord gives us.

This, he said, was the challenge for the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). It is a challenge for the churches on the continent. It is a challenge for all those who take their faith and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously.

AACC was launched in 1963 at its first General Assembly in Kampala. The Nairobi based pan-African ecumenical organisation is a fellowship of 168 national churches in 39 African countries.

During the 40th Anniversary Celebration, the Secretary to Kenya's Constitutional Review Commission, Mr. Patrick Lumumba launched AACC Foundation Fund as an endowment fund.

Church leaders from all over Africa and the local diplomatic and business community were among guests at the celebrations.

He expressed appreciation that the vision of the African Renaissance and African renewal has taken root on the continent. The development of NEPAD and African Union testify to the vision.

He expressed appreciation to AACC and the World Council of Churches (WCC) for hosting the Pan-African Ecumenical Consultation on NEPAD in South Africa in March this year.

Recalling the period AACC has served, Rev. Chikane noted that the environment within which the new African continent was born was not a leveled playing field both within the continent and internationally. Internationally, the Cold-War was intensifying at the time, forcing African countries to take sides between the East and West, between socialism and capitalism etc. This resulted in proxy wars and conflicts whose theater was in other lands other than of the main protagonists. Those who tried to be neutral in this East/West conflict were crushed in between or suffered like grass when elephants fight. In this world order regime change (to use modern language) and assassination of leaders of other countries was accepted, except that it was done covertly.

He observed that other external strategic interests like oil, diamonds and other minerals became part of the curse of the African continent. Where Africa was endowed with such precious mineral deposits or oil it never had peace.

Within the continent, Africa had to contend with leaders who were good students of their colonial masters. They established

. Military, dictatorial, oppressive and exploitative regimes;

. Client states with an elite which served their own self-interests and those of their former colonial masters or other external forces rather than its people;

. Sectarian regimes which excluded other sections of the society on various grounds like ethnicity, etc;

. Oligarchies;

. Corrupt regimes which served themselves rather than the people etc.

Many African countries allowed their own fault lines to be exploited by external forces to advance their own interests at the expense of the people. At the end, many Africans were subjected to enormous pain and suffering, many died, millions were displaced and others turned into refugees, he noted.

All this led many parts of Africa on a path of further regressions and degradation rather than development and growth. Fortunately, prophetic and progressive voices within and outside the church and African societies were always there to keep the vision for a free, united, just and prosperous Africa. They kept the faith, maintained their calling, as witnesses to the course of justice and righteousness, and like a thorn in the flesh remained the conscience of their societies. Prophetic voices within member churches of the AACC; National Councils of Churches affiliated to the AACC and those of the leadership of the AACC are counted amongst this crowd of witnesses.

Currently, he said, Africa was mopping up remaining pockets of conflicts. What is required is a culture of good governance, respect for human rights, good corporate governance in the private sector among others.

All Africa Conference of Churches