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NAMIBIA COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE NAMIBIA COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE Post Offce Box 286, London WC1X 0EL, U.K. Telephone:(44 1) 833 2905 London: May 22, 1986 NAMIBIAN BISHOP CHALLENGES DOUBLE STANDARDS OF THE WEST During a sermon in London, the Rt. Rev. James Kauluma, President of the Council of Churches in Namibia, challenged "the double standards" adopted by Western countries in their attitude to Namibia. "The same governments ... who for years have passed statements of rejection of the apartheid system and have expressed horror at the situation," said the bishop, ".. are the very same whose economic resources and money continue to pour in to support the same system which they condemn." The bishop was speaking on Saturday, 17 May, in London's East End in the Diocese of Stepney, which has a special link with his own Anglican diocese of Namibia. The occasion was a service of thanksgiving, at which Bishop Jim Thompson of Stepney also presided, for the opening of Bishop Winter House. The house is to provide accommodation and a "home away from home" for Namibian students and refugees visiting London. It is named after the former Anglican bishop of Namibia, Colin Winter, who was exiled from the country for the outspoken stand he took on behalf of his people against the illegal occupying forces of South Africa. Bishop Kauluma based his sermon on St. James' assertion that "faith without works is dead," saying he believed the Diocese of Stepney had "shown its commitment to the theology of doing by providing this home where needy people would be accommodated." Similarly, he said, this theology should also be applied to the Namibian political situation. "Statements and decisions in themselves are nothing," said the bishop, "unless they are backed up by action." It is the resources of Western governments, said Bishop Kauluma, which enabled South Africa "to set up the very oppressive system which continues to oppress the people" and "to wage war in Namibia". Bishop James called on Western governments "to cooperate with the U.N. in implementing Resolution 435" and was forceful in his rejection of the linkage of the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola as a condition for a settlement in Namibia. When Resolution 435 was passed by the U.N. at the instigation of the Western powers in 1978, pointed out the bishop, there were already Cubans in Angola, yet no mention of "linkage" had been made then. "They brought this unrelated issue," he explained, "as a way of retarding the negotiations and to postpone independence." Bishop James concluded his address by saying "We consider Namibia is a responsibility of the international commmunity ... and we would like to see the British government and all other Western countries taking concrete action and use the pressure they have to put on South Africa so that she may agree and cooperate to give the people of Namibia their independence and freedom." End. Tie Namibia Comnunlications Centrc is a project of the Naniibi Christian Communications Trust, an ecumenical agency working in cooperation with churches in Africa. Europe and North America. Registered charity no. 288842..

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Church Unification and National Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid Namibia
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