How far will the African churches go "on principle" - and what is morally right? Observers continue to discuss the fact that if Africa's Anglican churches split from the North American branches, and refuse to continue to take support from them, it could have a large impact on aid flowing into Africa to combat AIDS. Two stories in The East African cast further light on this. In "Aids orphans in firing line as Church fights over gay priests," Paul Redfern writes about Bishop Mdimi Mhogolo of Central Tanganyika, who has continued to accept support from the New York branch of the US Episcopal Church, unlike the rest of the Tanzanian Anglican church. His view is very much the exception among African church leaders:
“We have no qualms about it in my diocese,” Bishop Mhogolo told Reuters. “(If) a gay person has felt: ‘I want to help an HIV orphan to go to school,’ and you say: ‘No, I'm not going to receive that money,’ you are rejecting the person and you are rejecting an answer for the HIV person.” Around 1,000 Aids orphans are benefiting from the US church’s “Carpenter’s Kids” programme in Tanzania and such a project is typical of the support given to the poorest people in East Africa by generous donors within the United States. “Let the judgment be done by God, not by me,” he said.
There's a related story in the newspaper's sidebar: "Activists angered by Gambian President's AIDS-cure claim." In January, president Yahya Jammeh announced that he had perfected a cure for the virus that works within ten days; people he has purportedly healed have been appearing regularly on state-run television.
The cure’s secret ingredients, according to [government Health Minister] Mbowe, are Jammeh’s “family knowledge of traditional medicine” and “the teachings of the Holy Koran.”
While many citizens believe that the president has divine power to heal, and an increasingly oppressive political climate stifles overt criticism of his claim, even by medical officials, one newspaper editor, Sam Sarr of Foroyaa, has spoken out:
“A lot of people are sceptical, they have doubts, especially in urban areas,” said Sarr. “In a society where a lot of people are fetishists, their lack of knowledge leads them to believe that the president used supernatural powers to find a cure,” he said. An editorial in Foroyaa warned that President Jammeh’s claim could be a threat to the fight against HIV/Aids in Gambia, where the disease prevalence rate is estimated at 2.1 per cent."
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