MosesMagadza: Whither MDGs?

MosesMagadza: Whither MDGs?: MDGs suffered from experimentation … as world looks beyond 2015   By Moses Magadza WINDHOEK - A senior United Nations offici...

Whither MDGs?

MDGs suffered from experimentation

… as world looks beyond 2015

 

By Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK - A senior United Nations official has said that the failure by many African countries to meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be attributed to lack of precedent which led to experimentation as well as to overreliance on external support.

Ambassador Musinga Bandora

Ambassador Musinga Bandora, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Namibia made this observation while delivering a public lecture at the University of Namibia on Tuesday, August 19, 2014. The public lecture, was one of a series planned by the University of Namibia through its faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences to stimulate vigorous discourse around socio-economic and other issues. The topic of the lecture was: “From MDGs to Sustainable Development Goals of the New Post 2015 Development Agenda: Process and Prospects for Africa and Namibia – Making the New Agenda Work.”

UN Member states adopted the current eight MDGs in 2000, primarily to eradicate extreme poverty. With only months before the end date of the MDGs, there is a general consensus among experts that for many countries, especially in the developing world, that noble goal remains elusive.

Bandora said there was evidence that since the MDGs were introduced without precedent, they suffered from “experimentation” which may have jinxed their successful implementation. Yet all was not lost. In many countries, he said, things were a lot better than they were before the MDGs were adopted.

Quoting a report produced by a the United Nations’ High Level Panel appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon in July 2012, Bandora said that MDGs had made a remarkable difference to humanity and transformed lives.

“Overall, progress and achievements of the MDGs in Africa has been mixed, not just across goals, but also across countries and even within countries,” the career diplomat told his audience.

Citing the 2013 Africa MDG Report, he said Africa was on track toward achieving four of the MDGs: achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; combating HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases; and strengthening global partnership for development.

Turning to Namibia’s performance, Bandora said the country was on course toward meeting most the MDGs, albeit partially. Specifically, the country has done remarkably well in reducing poverty; achieving universal primary education; bringing about gender equity and empowering women; addressing HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and other diseases; promoting environmental sustainability; and developing global partnerships for development.

“(Namibia) is not likely to achieve the child mortality and maternal health targets” he observed.

The 2013 Africa MDG report that Bandora cited is unequivocal in stating that there has been a mismatch between poverty reduction and economic growth on the continent and that although some African countries have achieved universal access to primary education, the quality of that education remains cause for concern. There was also evidence that some countries including Namibia that made remarkable progress toward meeting MDGs have done so through channelling domestic resources toward implementation rather than relying on external or donor support.

Bandora explained that following a series of consultations led by the United Nations, 17 new sustainable goals with 169 targets have been developed for implementation in what is been touted as the post 2015 Agenda. Like the MDGs, the proposed new goals have a 15 year time line.

The 17 new goals proposed for implementation after 2015 are:

1. End poverty in all forms everywhere.
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable r equality and agriculture.
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well – being for all.
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning for all.
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and Girls.
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation.
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.
8. Promote sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
13. Combat climate change and its impacts.
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and biodiversity loss.
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. This includes enablers and cross-cutting issues of Finance, Technology, Capacity building and  Trade as well as Systemic issues of Policy and Institution coherence, Partnerships, Data, monitoring and accountability for results.

Although there seems to be agreement over the proposed new goals, discussions are ongoing around sticky issues that include the rule of law, sexual and reproductive health rights, climate change and subsidies for fossil fuel.

While acknowledging that the new goals may appear many and even overambitious, Bandora said they present governments with an opportunity to choose well and focus even as the world citizens demand boldness and ambition.

“Whatever compromise emerges, the challenge for Africa is to sustain active engagement and ensure that these negotiations culminate in a lean agenda – one focusing on the most catalytic areas to its development,” he said.

ALL EARS: Part of the crowd that attended the public lecture on MDGs

Calling for introspection, Bandora said Namibia and Africa must draw lessons from implementing the current MDGs if they are to be successful in implementing the new goals.

“Evaluations of the MDGs have pointed out several shortcomings and lessons… There was inadequate analysis and justification behind some of the chosen goals…MDGs were adopted by governments without consulting with the people and in the main, the goals remained marginal and not integrated into national development plans.”

Additionally, Namibia and the continent must redouble efforts to eradicate poverty, tackle inequality and exclusion and address unemployment among the youth, which he said was a ticking time bomb that could undermine the proposed new agenda.

“Equally, addressing gender inequality, investing in women’s empowerment, providing equal and accessible education for girls will impact positively on the new agenda…The spirit of consultations that characterised the development of the new agenda must be embedded into its implementation,” he advised.

At continental level, there was need to achieve and sustain high economic growth rates and take advantage of the new opportunities in globalisation for implementing the new agenda.

“Africa’s overriding growth objective should be to wean itself over dependence. In its 2014 Africa Transformation Report, the African Centre for Economic Transformation underscores that African economies need more than just growth if they are to transform. They need to grow with ‘depth’: diversify, make exports competitive, increase agricultural productivity, invest in technology, innovate and improve human capital.”

Noting that Africa was emerging as the new frontier for massive natural resources, Bandora called for political prudence and skills for managing those resources for the benefit of the continents’ citizens.

“Africa should ensure that these resources become a blessing and not a curse, as we have seen in the past. Only then can Africa effectively leverage internal resources to implement the new agenda with the political independence and autonomy of action that financial capacity engenders.”

While acknowledging that Africa was still far from being able to go it alone and might continue to require donor assistance, Bandora called for the proper coordination of donors to avoid duplication. There is also need to promote public private partnerships on the continent, as well as to reinvigorate the pace of regional integration.

“Fifty three African countries acting individually lack the critical mass to be meaningful players on the global scene. Africa needs to partner, interact and trade more. Bandora advanced the thesis that the new proposed post 2015 goals can best be implemented with deeper political commitments to promoting good governance, peace and security on the continent.

“Giving Parliaments, civil society, media and space to freely exercise their oversight, advocacy and public accountability roles must continue to form part of that political agenda,” he said, adding that efforts to resolve conflicts should be intensified.

He called for tact in managing diversity and noted that political “rigidity and marginalisation, ethnicity and religious tolerance,” were wreaking havoc on the continent.

With many African countries facing a critical shortage of human resources for development, Bandora said there was need for the continent to strengthen its institutions and systems, raise people with the right skills and in sufficient numbers to push the post 2015 agenda.

 “Investing in education and skill, in building capacity of state institutions and systems to oversee the implementation must be part of the agenda itself.”

Scores of people who included UNAM students, professors and lecturers, members of the United Nations family in Namibia, as well as members of the diplomatic community attended the lecture.

*Winner of the SADC Media Award and 10 other journalism awards, Moses Magadza is a Masters in Media Studies student at the University of Namibia. Email: moses.magadza@gmail.com

MosesMagadza: Of miracle money, instant weight loss etc

MosesMagadza: Of miracle money, instant weight loss etc: Of miracle money , instant weight loss and other later day marvels By Moses Magadza WINDHOEK - Wide-eyed and with her little...

Of miracle money, instant weight loss etc

Of miracle money, instant weight

loss and other later day marvels

By Moses Magadza

WINDHOEK - Wide-eyed and with her little heart pounding with excitement, a teenage girl hurried into her house from an all-night religious function in Katutura here recently.

“Daddy,” she said to her father, “you missed out! We saw miracles. Fat people were losing weight through prayer. Some people who had cell phones with flat batteries or had no credit in their cell phones suddenly realised that their batteries had been miraculously fully charged and their accounts had been credited with money and they could make even international calls.”

She was waxing lyrical about miracles, signs and wonders that were presumably performed by a visiting prophet before thousands of hopeful people in Sam Nujoma Stadium recently. However, not everyone who attended the miracle crusade was as impressed as the teenager. One man who was promised miracle cash deposits into his bank account said recently that he believed he had been misled.

“I am still waiting for my miracle. We are living in very interesting times in which we are bombarded by countless so-called miracle workers,” the bewildered man said on condition he was not named.

Are we INDEED living in times of more miracles and marvels?

Dr Ezekiel Kwembeya, founder and leader of Rest and Restoration Ministries which has its headquarters in Namibia, does not think much has changed from the Old Testament times.

Dr Ezekiel Kwembeya, founder and leader of Rest and Restoration Ministries

The only difference, he opines, is that in the past the church demonised everything to do with power and became an organisation in which people just waited to go to heaven. 

Multiple ‘power points’

“In the Old Testament power and the church, as represented by Israel, were synonymous,” he said during an interview, adding that what presents a dilemma for today’s believer is the fact that it is not only the church that can operate in power and miracles. 

“The spiritual world is a real world. You can plug into it from various power points. That’s why people need to know which ‘frequency’ they are tapping into,” he warned.

He may well be right. In the Old Testament Moses burst onto the scene and plugged into the power of God and performed miracles as God strove to free the Israelites from Pharaoh’s yoke. However, the Egyptian magicians also plugged into some other powers and tried to outdo Moses. They could draw some supernatural power from somewhere and perform signs and wonders in convincing fashion.

Wheat and tares

With the average believer now seemingly at a crossroads, Kwembeya argues that signs, wonders, miracles and power should not be the determining factors in what is right and what is not right.

“You need something more substantial than that; something of substance to delineate these two. I believe that it’s the doctrine or the teaching of the word that separates what we believe and what the dark world believes.”

Elder Makenzi Mateta of Forward and Faith Ministries concurs. 

Elder Makenzi Mateta

“Every (Christian) needs to be acquainted with the Bible to be able to test, discern and actually tell false from true. Gone are the days when people couldn’t even quote a single verse; when all they knew of the Bible was what had been preached to them.”

Signs of the times?

The apparent proliferation of miracle workers including those that perform signs and wonders “just to show off” disturbs but does not surprise Mateta. 

“The Bible warns that a time will come when many people will emerge claiming to be or of Jesus Christ,” he says. 

While acknowledging that it is dangerous to prematurely judge people on the basis of the miracles they perform, Kwembeya said believers should be on the lookout for consistency in the words and deeds of people who claim to be able to perform miracles.

“The Bible says you shall know them by their fruit. A tree is known by its fruit more than by how it appears vegetatively.”

He believes that every miracle should have a message or a lesson, lest it degenerates into exhibitionism or mere brinkmanship.

“There must be an eternal principle that God wants to convey.”

Crooks in hard times

Apostle Haruna Goroh of Jesus Center

Apostle Haruna Goroh, the leader of Jesus Center Church in Katutura believes in miracles and says Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel and promised them that signs or miracles would follow “those who believe”. 

Says Goroh: “Jesus told his disciples that they would cast out demons in his name, that if they drank anything deadly or poisonous it would not hurt them, that if they laid their hands upon the sick, they would recover.” 

However, given the prevailing hard socioeconomic times, Goroh would not put it past some unscrupulous magicians “like the person who predicted the outcome during the recently-ended World Cup in Brazil” to emerge and mislead desperate people.

Stressing that Jesus never repeated the same miracle, Goroh says that some of the miracles that are either being promised or performed these days fly in the face of what the Bible teaches.

“When God created man and put him in the Garden of Eden, he did not tell him that he would eat miraculous food without working… God designed man to work … The Bible says he who does not work should not eat.” 

He reasons that the fact that God created the world through a lot of hard work over six days only to rest on the seventh day “is proof that proportionally, people should do more work than resting”. 

Goroh maintains that miracles only happen during emergencies, “when the supernatural power comes for a season to disrupt or short-circuit the flow of the natural because somebody is in danger and cannot naturally come out of that trouble.”

He said nowadays a lot of dishonest people who are driven by the desire to grow their churches and their personal bank accounts were trying all sorts of things. 

“I know that there are instances in the Bible in which people were anointed with oil. I have also done it. However, the dividing line between when it is man or God doing it is very blurred. Nevertheless, when attention shifts from God to man; when attention is no longer on Jesus but on a human being, you can be sure (that it is all fake).”

Goroh said there was nothing like miracle money. 

“Nowhere in the Bible is it said you will find money in your bank account without working for it. This is fraud and those who are claiming to be making miracle money need to be in jail. Such activities are fraudulent. If we perform those kinds of miracles, we would bring the whole workforce to a standstill; nobody would have to go to work. There is no miracle weight loss,” he said, adding that there were places in the world where some people learn “those things.”

He said there was evidence that some unscrupulous people were using magic to grow their churches.

“Because of lack of knowledge, many people can be caught up in these things. People must read the bible for themselves to find out the truth,” he said. 

While acknowledging that God can perform miracles, Goroh says people cannot live on miracles or off them. God, he said, wants things that are sustainable; things that mould character through perseverance.

His view is that there are many tricksters on the loose taking advantage of people who just want quick solutions and short cuts.

Dr Archford Musodza

Dr Archford Musodza, an expert in church history, said many of today’s so-called miracles are suspicious and self-centred.

“A cursory view of the Old and the New Testament will show that miracles were meant to bring glory to God and not self. They were meant to enhance and save life.”

Musodza said in what some scholars have called the messianic secret, Jesus never publicised the miracles that He performed, possibly to avoid drawing attention from the Kingdom and the gospel to Himself. These days the media rings with advertisements of so-called miracle workers.

“These new miracle workers are dubious, spurious gold diggers,” he said.

It seems that unless and until people acquire knowledge to be able to tell the wheat from the tares, many of them, like the excited teenage girl who believes she saw miracles, will continue to be misled.

-moses.magadza@gmail.com

Should Mandela have done more?

Should Mandela have done more?

By Moses Magadza

Windhoek (Written Dec 6, 2013) - By now word has reached even the most far-flung corners of the earth. Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Founding President and world-acclaimed anti-apartheid icon, is no more. 

South African President Jacob Zuma confirmed that President Mandela, who was 95, died on Thursday evening (December 5, 2013) in Johannesburg. President Zuma hailed Mandela as South Africa’s “greatest son” and said the former President was now “resting … at peace”.

As the world’s citizens come to terms with Mandela’s passing on, focus has once again fallen onto his legacy.

There can be no denying the fact that Nelson Mandela represented the last breed of the African continent’s value-driven politicians who catalysed change in South Africa using all manner of means. Most importantly, Mandela was indeed the longest serving political prisoner on the continent in recent history. That we cannot take from him; he was an icon of resistance against oppression and racialism in any form.

In many respects Mandela was a model of reconciliation. He was in a rare class that arguably includes Namibia’s Founding President Sam Nujoma and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in terms of embracing and successfully bringing about reconciliation in an environment in which no-one would have anticipated it possible. 

Imagine someone rising in Afghanistan or in Iraq and bringing about reconciliation with the west that allows former American President George W. Bush to take a beer in Kabul without being lynched…

Viewed in this light, Mandela’s was a revolutionary form of reconciliation that he brought to bear on our accursed continent.

Mandela is to be credited, also for introducing modern era parliamentary democracy in Africa. From South Africa’s independence in 1994 it has been possible to change successive presidents without any bloodshed or any complaints from any quarter of rigging or malpractice. One can argue that by so doing, Mandela provided inspiration for both people in leadership and aspiring leaders. He served his term and left power without having to be ejected or rejected by the people. When he relinquished power, he sat back and let the new rulers run the show without interference. 

The beneficiaries from his struggles and his brand of leadership have been across the board; encompassing the young and old across gender. Mandela even allowed a discussion about gay and lesbian rights in South Africa to a point where now South Africa allows same sex marriages. To that extent Mandela was for all-inclusiveness and a plural society.

With regard to doing something for women, Mandela ensured that there was some parity and equality among the sexes. If one looks at the African National Congress (ANC) which he led, one realises that it represented women very broadly and perhaps thanks to the foundation Mandela and his administration put, women in South Africa hold very key positions in government and industry. South Africa today has one of the highest proportions of women in parliament in Africa. In terms of the cabinet, the country has a substantial number of women holding ministerial and other senior positions.

It is difficult to say what Mandela did for women in terms of economic development. However, given that the national cake in South Africa does not seem to be too male dominated, it can safely be said that Mandela tried to lay the foundation for equal access to resources in the country.

It is also hard to say at the drop of a hat what kind of laws came into effect during Nelson Mandela’s tenure and to what extent they promoted the welfare of women and children. Nevertheless, with respect to access to education, Mandela and his administration did well and today female students are well represented in the country’s institutions of higher education. This can be seen as a major achievement.

Mandela’s many positive legacies notwithstanding, some people find it ironic that with his seemingly big heart for reconciliation and forgiveness, he was unable to forgive his wife of many years and compatriot in the struggle, Winnie Mandela, for her alleged shambolic sexual behaviour. It is difficult to marry the two personas of Nelson Mandela. There is a contradiction here.

One of the things that stick out like sore thumbs as one of Mandela’s negative legacies is what can be said to be his selective amnesia. Having walked that often-cited long walk to freedom and come into power in Southern Africa’s biggest economy, he did not do what many would have expected to acknowledge in one way or the other the contribution of the many countries that were battered by pre-independent South Africa in pursuit for the independence of that country. Those countries include Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

One would have expected Mandela to have gone an extra mile in the journey that was started by another African called Dr Kwame Nkrumah who famously declared that the independence of Ghana would not be good enough unless and until the rest of Africa was independent and that Pan Africanism as an ideal was to be pursued, or words to that effect.

Accordingly, one of Nelson Mandela’s negative legacies is that South Africa is today to a large extent closed to the rest of Africa. It is more open to white people than to Africans. You are more likely to be required to produce a transit visa in Johannesburg if you are a black person from Africa than if you are coming from Washington. This is one of the legacies of Mandela that are difficult to understand.

One would have expected that Mandela would have been at the frontline of acknowledging support - through bloodshed and economic retardation - by countries that stood by South Africa in its hour of need. Until now there seems to be no plans to show any form of gratitude. The downfall of apartheid did not come merely by Mandela being in prison for 27 years. Many other people and countries – especially the Frontline States – played a major role in South Africans’ struggle.

Prior to his death, Mandela spent a long time in hospital. Few African leaders visited him or said anything substantial about his health. While this trend is difficult to read, one can put it down to respect for his privacy and acknowledging that the end was not too far for the man who once famously said that one of his greatest regrets in life is that he never became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. 

It seems heads of state and government in Africa followed the example set by America’s President Barack Obama of not being too intrusive into what was essentially a private family matter, particularly when it was common cause that Mandela was critically ill. 

While it is very difficult to judge Mandela on the basis on what he did or did not do while he was President of South Africa mainly because he got into power when EVERYTHING was being set up, the man, even in death, remains a highly polarised subject. It is possible that the debate around his legacy will rage on, even long after he has been laid to rest. –moses.magadza@gmail.com