Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
June 9, 2006

Kenya deserves to have its debts written off, or the nation should stop repaying them, religious leaders said.

Speaking on Tuesday during the launch of the material published by the National Postcard Campaign for Kenya’s Debt Cancellation and Repudiation at the Holy Family Basilica, Sunil Shah, secretary general Hindu Council, said it was unjust for Kenya not to be in the list of countries whose debts were mitigated by rich nations.

Bishop Gideon Ireri of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) termed Kenya’s exclusion from countries whose debts were reduced as “selective justice.”

Fr Jude Waweru, the AMECEA Justice and Peace coordinator noted that the debt burden continues to weigh heavily on taxpayers. “It is a moral imperative to say no! We all need to be part of this struggle whose victory will see a great humanization on the lives of our people.”

Among the materials launched at the event were a video, “The Debt of the Dictators,” done by Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), a Magazine – New People on the International Debt and last year’s Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops of Kenya, “On the Burden of International Debt.”

Other relevant materials, which are available at the Catholic Bookshop and the Justice and Peace Desk of AMECEA, are a series of six radio programs lasting 10 minutes each

The programs in audio cassettes, which are in English, were sponsored by the British charity, Oxfam and. A trainer’s manual for diocesan coordinators was also launched.

The launch was organized by the Catholic Economic Justice Network.