by Stewart Musiwa, Zimbabwe, February 1998
THEME = DEBT
The year 2000 has been proclaimed a "Year of Jubilee"
by the mainline Churches,
a year when debts must be forgiven.
But some people utter a word of caution
First of all, let's look at a typical local debt situation and see how it applies at an international level. The month has ended. A farm worker at Trokiadza Farm near Karoi, some 200 km north of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, anxiously opens his pay envelope and winces at what he sees. Three dollars fifty cents (Zimbawean dollars) is his net salary today. The rest, about four hundred dollars, went to service his debt at the little grocery shop owned by the farmer, Mr Simon Aston.
Although many farm workers remain on "season worker" or "permanent part-time" salary scales for many years, all workers are allowed to borrow as much "grocery money" as they want, which is deducted from their salary on pay day. This is on condition they do not quit their job. Not a single cent is thus available for their children's education and health care. This makes the workers, slaves to debt, all their working life.
But this plight is not peculiar to farm workers. The Zimbabwean government, which ever since independence started borrowing money from Western countries in order to re-build its war-shattered economy, is reeling under heavy debt. In the face of this "debt crisis", politicians have no other alternative than to humbly ask their creditors for "debt-forgiveness".
Their petition received a spiritual flavour when local Churches met in Harare, last October, to find ways of lobbying the government to ask western nations to cancel debts before the Jubilee Year 2000. In April 1996, a campaign, "Jubilee 2000", was launched by various organisations in Great Britain, and similar campaigns are now being launched worldwide. "Jubilee 2000" asks for the cancellation of debts and for a fresh start, to celebrate the new millennium in the spirit of Leviticus 25, 8-12. The Catholic Church, as a worldwide organisation, has given its support to this effort.
However, the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe warns that caution must be taken as to who will benefit from the cancellation of the international debt. In their joint Pastoral Statement, "Responsibility, Honesty, Solidarity", released in April 1997, the bishops of Zimbabwe said: "If people are to benefit from debt cancellation programmes, governments have to put their house in order, first of all. Wastage of public funds and corruption must stop".
At the seminar organised by the Ecumenical Documentation and Information Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa (EDICESA), Mr Opa Kapijima of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), also warned African governments against misusing borrowed funds. He said that debt puts the recipients in a weak position, where they have to go begging on their knees. He also reminded participants at the seminar, that there were both internal and external factors contributing to the debt crisis in Africa.
On the external side, he cited unfair trade relations between African countries and the West, which worked in favour of the latter. By determining prices of raw materials from Africa, for instance, western countries enjoyed an unfair advantage. Western countries, are therefore, in a position to accrue surplus money which they can lend out at high rates of interest. "Because of this surplus, there is a push in the West to lend money to African countries", says Kapijima. He expressed concern that when western countries pressurize African governments to repay their debts, "soft targets" such as health and education suffer most when cash must be found.
On the internal side, Kapijima maintained that African governments have not developed a philosophy for dealing systematically with debt. He said: "They should have a clear idea what to borrow for, and how to pay back the debt, and not to misuse aid which is received from abroad".
Miss Zvisinei Manyowa of the Zimbabwe Womens Resource Centre Network, says she believes Zimbabwe is "living beyond its means". Although she does not see anything wrong with borrowing as such, she thinks that too much of it is risky. She said that the government should consider the views of women when making national budget allocations. She also blasted the government for misusing borrowed funds and for poor administration, and suggested there should be a "dramatic change of government".
Mr Deprose Muchena of the Justice, Peace and Reconciliation desk of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, describes the debt crisis as "a serious challenge" for the Churches. He said that in a crisis situation like this, the Churches should adopt a positive stance on the question of poverty. "We have no right to ask money from congregations, if we are not clear where we stand on the question of poverty and are prepared to do something about it".
The campaign, "Jubilee 2000", is asking people around the world to sign its petition relating to debt cancellation. All well and good, but perhaps there is more to the question of debt than the mere fact of getting into debt in the first place.
END
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