African Faith Communities Can Fight Corruption Too
African faith communities are growing rapidly, notably Christian churches, but their presence in the ranks of those fighting against corruption must yet be strengthened.
Daryl Balia, Programme Head, Corruption and Governance Programme, ISS Cape Town Office
The
growing influence of religion, not least Christianity and Islam, in Africa is
being rapidly acknowledged by many. In
the case of Christians, we notice in particular the rise of Pentecostal-type
churches spreading a prosperity-type gospel that encourages wealth creation
among its members. While the coincidence might not be so obvious to some,
African churches should be challenged like all institutions in society to examine
the moral assumptions of their belief systems or mission statements that may
help or hinder the spread of corruption. One place to start is to accept that
corruption amounts to a misuse of public office (or public power) for private
gain, and that it has manifested itself in unmanageable ways in the developing
world over the past two or three decades, such that it has prompted scholars to
devise tools for its measurement. Yet is corruption ever seriously being
tackled as a wider problem afflicting society by any faith community?
One
participant at a church-sponsored conference on corruption, a European business
executive working in the area of risk management, remarked that in ten years’
experience of attending anti-corruption conferences he had not encountered a
church leader. In his words, ‘It is essential that the churches be an active
voice in national discussions’. At the 8th Assembly of the World
Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe, held in December 1998, a most
forthright statement was made by Protestant churches about corruption, albeit
in the context of the struggle to provide debt relief to developing nations.
Representatives of over 350 million Christians called on their member churches
to advocate for ‘ethical governance in all countries’ and urged governments to
take ‘legislative action against all forms of corruption and misuse of loans’.
Delegates at the Assembly furthermore, in the debate on human rights,
recognised that ‘corrupt practices are a major evil in our societies’ and pledged
therefore to uphold the ‘elementary right’ of every person to be protected
under the law against such practices. As the threat of corruption to
development was not being viewed comprehensively enough, at least at the time
in question, nothing of substance has further emanated from the World Council
of Churches (WCC) since. At its subsequent assembly held in Porto Allegre,
Brazil, in February 2005, despite the full onslaught of global capital on
poorer nations, and the rapid rise of corrupt practices throughout the world,
nothing new was mentioned about the evolving fight against corruption. The WCC’s
reticence to speak out against corruption might be viewed as a missed
opportunity for prophetic engagement when the ‘signs of the times’ were
everywhere present. Yet other churches elsewhere, especially those in Latin
America, were not silent in the face of the pervasive and unwelcome presence of
corruption.
Fresh
from having lived through legacies of undemocratic rule, military dictatorships
and authoritarian regimes, countries in Latin America have been experiencing
new waves of democratic participation in civic life. From Brazil to Bolivia,
from Chile to Paraguay, and from Nicaragua to Costa Rica, civil society
movements have spawned a new and vibrant experience of participatory democracy,
one where the churches have been no silent witnesses. On the contrary, in the
words of one missionary observer, ‘very large numbers of Christians filled the
ranks of human rights groups formerly against military abuses and now against
corruption.’ Many of these would be members of small Christian communities
while others were leaders of churches, like Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez, the
Archbishop of Tegucigalpa in Honduras. He rose to prominence when, almost by
default, he was invited to lead a national commission against corruption and
also went on to become President of the Latin American Bishops Conference from
1995 to1999. Using this latter platform, the Cardinal helped lay a solid
foundation for making corruption ‘the new battle horse of the Catholic Church’
in Latin America. In the Philippines, another part of the world dominated by
Catholic Christians, church leaders have adopted ‘people power’ campaigns to
oust corrupt leaders. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, President of the Catholic
Bishops Conference there, once pleaded for a revolt against endemic corruption
perpetrated by President Gloria Arroyo who faced mounting calls to resign
(before she eventually did) amidst bribery allegations against her government.
From
the most cursory reading of the history of Christianity it should be apparent
that churches have not completely ignored the prevalence and practice of
corruption in society. John Wesley, the
founder of the worldwide Methodist Church, spoke out against it in his
time. At the 1767 Methodist Conference
in Britain, delegates were asked to ponder the question of how bribery may be
prevented at the ensuing elections. The Christian faith and tradition has no
credible history of condemning corruption in society, let alone within its
ranks. Throughout the centuries
Christian churches have played a dubious role in facilitating corrupt practices
within their internal structures and outright condemnation has been slow in
coming, if at all. Consider the abuse of trust and power by parish priests for
personal, or sometimes sexual gratification, and the fact that many such known
cases remain unpunished. If we had to imagine the number of times when the
noble values of transparency and accountability, so necessary in the fight
against corruption, have been trampled upon in the name of theocracy we will
hesitate to paint the churches as acting virtuously in these matters. The
churches’ complicity in corrupt behaviour is a concern which should first be
addressed by its own membership, though.
The challenge to fight the abuse of public
office for private gain is not something the churches should be afraid of
adopting. The struggle for the moral transformation of society does not require
that artisans for the ‘new humanity in Christ’ be first themselves ‘cleansed’
from corrupt influences as though this is ever possible. Churches have and can
bring their moral capital, accumulated over centuries and embracing the entire
world, to bear on the global effort to combat and prevent corruption. A much
more nuanced, thorough and contemporary understanding of the problem and its
current manifestations is a prerequisite if they are to be effective in adding
strategic value to ongoing efforts already underway. As the Roman Catholic
Church authority at the Vatican recognised when the fight against corruption
first became a subject for serious reflection within its precincts (2006), we
should initially aim ‘to arrive at a better understanding of the phenomenon of
corruption’ before we attempt to devise ways of contributing towards its
reduction in society. For this to happen, faith communities in general
and churches in particular will need to be far more engaged in public debate
and discussions about the problems posed to society by corrupt behaviour
patterns.
