Introduction:

The conference began at 08:49 on 27 February 2002 with an opening prayer from Fr.Jackson Katete of the Anglican Church. Fr. Peter Henriot of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) followed with brief introductory remarks to give an outline of the day. He pointed out that Jubilee-Zambia was part of the worldwide Jubilee movement. It was launched in 1998 on the steps of the Anglican Cathedral in Lusaka accompanied by a strong pastoral letter from the three national church bodies. This Fr. Henriot noted set the impetus for the debt cancellation campaign that Jubilee-Zambia has been championing relentlessly.

Fr. Henriot then pointed out that the focus of the conference was to build on Jubilee-Zambia’s efforts by providing a theological setting for one important aspect of the debt relief campaign. The focus of the conference was thus set out to be the biblical basis for calling for reparations.

After introductions of the participants representing the Zambian ecumenical community (see Attendance List), Bishop Paul Mususu, Executive Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, led the gathering in a beautiful biblical reflection on reparations. The Bishop reminded the gathering that it is indeed true that there are certain wrongs that are committed and cannot be reversed. On the other hand, other wrongs can be reversed. However, even a mere acknowledgement of guilt on the part of the wrong doer can be reckoned as reparation. This form of acknowledgement can bring some comfort to the affected party.

Digressing a bit, Bishop Mususu made reference to the flawed electoral process we just went through in Zambia. He mentioned that though Zambians have accepted the legitimacy of the elected leadership, an acknowledgement of the innumerable flaws in the electoral process is owed to the Zambians.

Opening Presentation:

“Why Jubilee Zambia Continues to Call for Total Debt Cancellation”

Mr. Jack Jones Zulu, Policy Analyst of Jubilee-Zambia, gave the first presentation. (See Appendix)  Mr. Zulu argued that Zambia's debt is clearly unsustainable and Zambia has no capacity to pay back. The huge debt service payments – averaging over US $100 million per year -- mean that Zambia has to divert these resources from important sectors of the economy like health and education. He observed it is immoral for the creditors to allow this to happen. He demonstrated that it was economically, politically and morally possible for third world's debt to be cancelled.   Mr. Zulu then briefly presented an historical and analytical case for debt reparations for Zambia, concluding that there are sound reasons for call for reparations to be paid to Zambia and other African countries.

Questions and Comments

From the first presentation several questions and comments came out. Clarification was sought as to what form reparation was to take if there were in fact to be any. Mr. Zulu explained that even mere acknowledgement of wrongs committed is a form of reparation. He further pointed out that it was possible for reparation to be quantified even in monetary terms. A good example of this was reparation sought for the Jewish holocaust during World War II. The participants wondered why reparation should even be sought when the resources gained there would only be misused or misapplied.  But Mr. Zulu argued that it is up to Zambians to rise and fight corruption. There is also need to come up with a mechanism to monitor use of all resources gained from debt relief or reparation as being.  This is currently being espoused by Jubilee-Zambia through the Debt Mechanism petition. The Debt Mechanism sets up a tripartite oversight committee to be composed of representatives of Parliament, civil society and government. It is a participative and transparent way of monitoring expenditure of debt relief resources.

It was noted that while Jubilee-Zambia is making a campaign on the need for debt relief, it is incumbent upon all church groups and civil society to disseminate the necessary information to assist the Zambian public to understand the issues and to respond effectively

Second Presentation:

“A Biblical Basis for Call for Reparations”

The second presentation, by Pastor Choolwe Mwetwa of Chingola Baptist Church, centred on the meaning of reparation and the biblical basis for calling for reparation. (See Appendix)  He initially observed that it is more proper to speak of “reparation” than “reparations,” since the latter could refer more to payments made to a victor after a war.  Pastor Choolwe observed that not only do Western nations owe their former colonies for environmental damage stemming from western industrialisation but that they should pay back what was “stolen” from Africa to build Europe. This also includes the labour taken away in slavery to the Americas. This has a biblical basis and from this point of departure Africa is calling for reparation. This means the rich Western nations must compensate for the “theft”. As such, even if many African countries are heavily indebted the question is re-posed as who actually owes whom? Pastor Mwetwa then posed a series of objections to reparation, answering each of them in succinct fashion on religious grounds.

Questions and Comments

The theological reflection on the meaning of reparation brought out sharp questions and lively interventions.  The participants wondered what the religious meaning of forgiveness is if we needed to receive reparation for wrongs done against us. Pastor Choolwe explained that it was true that wrongs are and can be forgiven but there are certain damages that can and should be restored back or compensated for.  The obvious example is that which was stolen must be brought back. This has a clear biblical foundation. Further to this was the question of the place of reparation when Christ had paid the price for all sin. The Pastor reiterated his explanation of the reparation for theft. He pointed out that when we talk about calling for reparation from the West, we are not dealing with anything else but a matter of theft. Therefore the best way to repair for theft was to restore what was stolen in one way or the other.

 Pastor Choolwe concluded that the Church’s silence on such a serious matter as this was in effect a sin of omission.  He called upon the churches to be more active in educating and motivating the people of Zambia around this issue of reparation.

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

In making a follow up to the two presentations, the gathering broke into groups to discuss questions of follow-up and other points arising from the presentations. The following were the group reports and discussions in the afternoon plenary session.

Church Responses

It was pointed out that before anything else the Church needed to cleanse itself from its internal weaknesses and redefine its connections with the West that might compromise its clear message for justice.

It was further recommended that:

·        The church needed to be truly united if it is to win this battle against debt and the call for reparation. Unity must go beyond leaders of the three mother bodies meeting in Lusaka, but should be reflected at grass root level, where ecumenism is embodied in at ordinary members.  Church unity also means that the three mother bodies issue one statement on national issues, and when it does so, the pronouncements it makes must reflect the general views of the grass root members.

·        In order to be effective in its mission for debt relief and monitoring the use of resources, the Church should permeate all levels of governance and should therefore be present in organisations like the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

·        The debt relief call is a moral and religious cause and therefore should be undertaken by all churches and not only the Catholic Church

·        It is the prophetic responsibility of the Church to make government accountable. As such the Church should not remain quiet in the face of scandals like the “cobaltgate”, the maize scam, Meridian saga, etc.

·        The manifesto of Jesus in Luke 4:18 is very clear that Christian churches should take a holistic approach to evangelisation and not piecemeal salvation of souls approach. Christ came to save both body and soul.

Information Sharing and Dissemination

Due to the technical nature of the subject of debt relief, information sharing between churches is crucial.

The church and debt relief organisations like Jubilee Zambia need to get in dialogue with civic leaders like Members of Parliament and Councillors who are in touch with the grass root so that the fight against third world debt is more effective. This is important because the debt relief campaign needs every Zambian's involvement. Most Zambians are by nature passive but would get involved if there were information flow. In fact, the Church should seriously educate the general membership and communities on debt and its impact. When ordinary people are educated, they are the ones who would then take up the role of advocating for debt relief, as was the case during the third term debate.

Paralegal training should be encouraged in communities so that the people appreciate their rights, including their right to information on governance and economic issues.

Issues of Transparency and Accountability

The biggest concern of the gathering was whether or not a politician can be trusted anymore in Zambia.   Many wondered if ever politicians would really listen to the public and be transparent and free of corruption. As such, many further wondered if at all resources obtained from debt relief would be put to good use. The track record shows that politicians cannot be trusted.

Coming from these points, the following recommendations were made:

·        The Church should not allow government to receive the debt relief money on its own. Thus a mechanism should be put in place that allows the Church and Civil Society to be present at receiving and expenditure of debt relief resources. It was noted that the already existing government formulated “HIPC Monitoring Team” is not working as it should. So far no one knows how much we have received from debt relief.

·        As the Church continues to push for debt relief, the nation should be assured of government's accountability and transparency in the use of debt relief resources. This is crucial, as the creditors equally do not trust that African governments would use debt relief resources for developmental purposes.

Conclusion

It was concluded that a meeting of such importance as this theological conference needed a very good follow-up.  Therefore Jubilee-Zambia should call a meeting within six months to evaluate the response to this conference and the implementation of its recommendations.