Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Accra (Fides Service) - “The Church and good governance” was the title of statement issued at the end of the 10th plenary assembly of the English speaking Catholic Bishops of West Africa who form the AECAWA. They were joined by representatives of the French speaking Bishops of the Region, CERAO and those of SECAM comprising all Africa and Madagascar, 21-30 August at Ho in Ghana.
“We are grateful to Christ, the Prince of Peace, for the relative calm that has prevailed in our nations since our last plenary session at Enugu, Nigeria, three years ago. We are particularly delighted to note the gradual return of peace and normalcy to Sierra Leone and Liberia after years of armed conflict and instability.”
The Bishops admit “Although our sub-region has known relative peace in recent years, it is still faced with many challenges. Ethnic and religious tensions and rivalry have caused loss of lives and continue to threaten the peace and security of our nations. The journey towards full democratisation has been difficult and in some places rather frustrating. While some countries seem to have made remarkable progress towards stable democratic governance, the reality of good governance in the sub-region has remained fragile, to a very large extent.”
Democracy and good governance go hand in hand with development and economic growth. In effect the Bishops write: “The sub-region has continued to contend with post-colonial exploitation and manipulation by external powers, as well as poor management of its natural and human resources by self-aggrandising leaders.” In this situation “the poor bear the brunt of the ill-effects of the extractive industries and benefit least from the revenue that accrues from them.”
At the political level the Bishops say they are thankful that military dictatorships and attendant political instability has been largely exorcised from the countries in the region although, they admit “a few African countries still suffer from the phenomenon of life-presidency” and affirm “the emergent young democracies in our continent require careful nurturing, transparency and vigilance to be more firmly entrenched.” A serious problem to overcome in the young democracies of Africa is corruption. The Bishops write: “Corruption has proven to be endemic in Africa. It debases democracy, sacrifices merit, enthrones mediocrity and fosters injustice in many sectors of public life. Many corrupt and self-serving leaders swell their personal accounts with ill-gotten gains”.
However there are other responsibilities: “The economic distress of our countries is ever worsened by the huge and crushing burden of foreign debts from which the populace hardly benefited” the Bishops write. “The present and future generations of our nations are enslaved by debt repayment. This debt crisis is not only an economic problem but also a moral issue. It raises the question of the ethical justification of heaping debt burdens on future generations of our peoples, while their counterparts in the industrialised creditor-nations are reaping huge financial benefits from the interests accruing. At the same time, it remains a paradox that the staggering sums of money, stashed away by some of our corrupt and unscrupulous leaders in foreign banks, are more than enough to pay off the debts their respective countries owe to foreign creditors.”
As remedies to heal the situation the Bishops stress the need to promote the values of democracy, good governance and correct managing of resources. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, righe 50 parole 554).
