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January 25, 2007

Kenya Nobel Laureate Maathai challenges churches on debt issue  

by Fredrick Nzwili
Ecumenical News International 

NAIROBI — Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai has challenged churches to get involved in the campaign against debt burden, saying many loans to developing countries were not only poorly transacted, but are also illegitimate.

     “We [churches] have the numbers. We have the voice and yet don’t raise that voice. We are quiet,” said Maathai, speaking at the Jan. 20-25 World Social Forum (WSF) here. “We pray silently in the safety of our homes, in the safety of our churches, because raising our voices would compromise our safety and comfort.” 
 
     Maathai, a Kenyan environmental scientist who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, was speaking at a WSF seminar entitled, “The Illegitimate Debt Dialogue.” 
 
     “I believe that the ecumenical movement is called to stand for justice,” said Maathai. “We can raise our voices enough to be heard by all the G8 countries, as we say these debts are illegitimate.”  
 
     However, some forum participants questioned how poor nations could demand debt cancellation, while their governments squandered the loans. They charged that some loans ended up in the pockets of leaders instead of going to development projects.

     “It is the leaders who squandered the money. It is not the ordinary people who have caused the debt. That the challenge we are facing,” Kenyan Roman Catholic Bishop Martin Kivuva of Machakos told Ecumenical News International. 
 
     To applause, Maathai said that those who had lent money knew that Africa had been under dictators and non-accountable leaders, and she questioned how governments could grant loans which they knew could not be repaid without sacrificing people’s lives. 
 
     “We cannot tolerate those debts, because they are not only illegitimate, but they are also killing our people,” said Maathai. “How can you punish those who were never consulted and for whom the money was never used?” 
 
     The Rev. Angel Furlan, the president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU) in Argentina, said churches in Latin America were also greatly concerned about the debt burden. 
 
     “The debt is responsible for a real genocide,” said Furlan in a speech. “To pay the debt is a violation of human rights.”