The following item is written by Rev Jane Stranz, a pastor of the Reformed Church of France and of the United Reformed Church in Britain. She co-ordinates the World Council of Churches language service.
Sometimes, to get clean water supplies to a village in Tanzania, direct action is needed. So says Moses Kulaba, a programme officer on accountable governance with Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), based in the south of the East African country.
He recalls how in Ilula in south-eastern Tanzania a corrupt retired army colonel was the local water official, controlling access and resale of water to the local population. Villagers then organized themselves to discover what was happening to their water supplies and to call the corrupt army officer to account.
“Water is increasingly a target for petty corruption”, says Kulaba, a member of the Anglican Church of Tanzania. He was speaking in Geneva, where NCA was one of four faith-based groups at a 13-14 September consultation for civil society organizations that was held by Catarina de Albuquerque, the United Nations independent expert on human rights obligations relating to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Kulaba reported that NCA has set up a public expenditure tracking system, called PETS, as a community empowerment tool that encourages local people to work together to demand accountability from public officials. “In Tanzania we’ve discovered that many of the problems have to do with corruption – classrooms but no desks, teachers but no salaries”, says Kulaba.
In Ilula, residents set up their own PETS committee to try and find out what was happening to the water in their village. It was a difficult struggle, says Kulaba, requiring research into where the money was going and action to enable villagers to voice their concerns and demands. Risking arrest, the villagers even went as far as trying to close down the local government water office in their successful campaign to get better access to water.
Like the other three faith-based organizations at the UN consultation, NCA belongs to the Ecumenical Water Network, an initiative of Christian churches, organizations and movements which have joined hands to protect and promote people’s access to water around the world.
“I do have a passion for my social justice work”, says Kulaba. “It impacts directly on peoples lives … giving hope and empowering communities.”
Kulaba sees his work as helping people “feel they can question officials”, and “giving people a voice.”
In the struggle to educate and empower people to work for social justice and overcome corruption, Kulaba highlights the importance of working together with different Christian denominations as well as collaborating more broadly in interfaith circles. Imams, bishops, pastors and other faith leaders have a key role in advocacy, he says.
“Faith-based organizations are listened to by a wide segment of the population and they go deeper into local communities”, he says. “This is an advantage over other organizations.”
In Tanzania, NCA has been working with the National Muslim Council (BAKWATA) as well as with various churches.
“It is so important to work together across the denominations and build relationships. Many political leaders are members of faith-based communities which gives us a unique opportunity and access”,” he notes.
“No other institutions in this world meet each week and have such structures in place. The churches are already there from the national level to the smallest village”,” says Moses. “Compared with politicians there is a real element of trust in the church as an institution. Churches still have some moral authority.”
Still, he noted challenges that remain for churches in advocacy work around issues of corruption and justice.
“Churches should understand that advocacy is not just a task for someone else to do”, says Kulaba, who has seven years of advocacy experience and has been working with NCA for the past two years. “Churches need to move from their comfort zone and take up these difficult issues which affect some of the weakest members of their congregations.”
For such advocacy to be credible it must be based on facts and knowledge. “Churches need to invest in quality, evidence-based research to understand the details and realities of complex situations” according to the Tanzanian.
For Kulaba the challenge that remains is working ecumenically and across faiths, encouraging churches and religious leaders to find their voice.
“In formal and informal governance structures we need second and third eyes. Those second and third eyes are churches and faith-based organizations, and the people”, adds Kulaba.
Moreover, he says, addressing issues of good governance across the faiths helps promote “harmonious coexistence and confront issues that affect all.”
