allAfrica.com: Kenya: Anglican Faithful Accuse Some Clerics of Corruption

allAfrica.com: Kenya: Anglican Faithful Accuse Some Clerics of Corruption

allAfrica.com: Uganda: Watoto Church Accused of Land Grabbing

allAfrica.com: Uganda: Watoto Church Accused of Land Grabbing

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel

Bishop Thomas Laizer of the ELCT-NCD

ELCT-NCD General Secretary Israel Ole Karyongi

Corridor Springs Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania is owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania- North Central Diocese (NCD). NCD carries $4 million dollars in debt for Corridor Springs Hotel and has failed to generate enough cash flow to pay the loan. The hotel is now valued at less than what’s owed, the NCD is using humanitarian projects such as donor-supported hospitals and schools as collateral for the debt.  As they struggle to service the staggering debt on this failing hotel, the NCD has stolen over $6 million worth of property and foreign aid donated for educating orphans and vulnerable children in Arusha.

On November 26, 2011, the NCD General Secretary Karyongi falsely enlisted police armed with assault rifles to illegally and forcibly seize Peace House Secondary School (PHS), a tuition-free school for orphans and vulnerable children. PHS was built near Arusha in 2006 by Peace House Africa, an international NGO dedicated to educating Tanzania’s poorest children.  The NCD was the local partner but did not contribute one shilling to the cost of constructing, maintaining or operating PHS.

Peace House Africa invested over $6 million dollars in building PHS.  It stood as one of the finest secondary schools, ranked 7^th out of 320 in the region, and housed over 250 orphans and vulnerable children. These children, who otherwise had no hope for a secondary education, must not be made to suffer for the corruption and greed of NCD leaders. NCD has no intention, much less the financial capacity, to provide free education to 278 children on a 100-acre, 22-building campus. For them, this exceptionally developed parcel of land is far too valuable to merely benefit the most defenseless and desperate citizens—impoverished orphans—instead, NCD will use it as an opportunity to steal “bread” from the mouths of destitute children. Whether they attempt to sell PHS or use it as collateral for their debt, it will ensure they sustain their “piggy bank”(without audit or accountability) in Corridor Springs.

Doing business with Corridor Springs Hotel supports this corruption and enriches the criminal structures that destroy efforts to help the poor and vulnerable; it is the moral equivalent of buying blood diamonds. Help us stand up for what’s right.

Don’t accommodate corruption—boycott Corridor Springs Hotel.

ELC in Namibia... Different Country, Same Game

http://allafrica.com/stories/201205020220.html

Bishop Thomas Laizer of the ELCT-NCD endorsed the dubious “miracle cure” …

Last year, the remote village of Samunge, Tanzania saw thousands flocking to receive the herbal brew purported to cure any ailment from diabetes to cancer to HIV/AIDS.  The “cup of Babu” is the supposed divinely-inspired concoction of retired Lutheran pastor, Ambilikile Masapila.  At the height of his popularity, the tiny village was dangerously overwhelmed by the influx of pilgrims seeking his faith-cure, reportedly attracting thousands each day creating a threat of food shortage in the area and a public sanitation crisis. Over 116 people died while seeking or after receiving the herbal formula. Nevertheless, ELCT Bishop, Thomas Laizer of the North Central Diocese, was a most enthusiastic supporter of Babu’s cup of miracles. 

In a public statement regarding the controversial panacea (facing criticism from skeptics in both the medical and religious community), Bishop Laizer sternly warned critics of the cure to keep quiet and not to dare "criticize a servant of God." Bishop Laizer stated the Church was raising funds for the construction of a large prayer house at Samunge village that would accommodate hundreds of people. The cleric had already collected over Sh.50 million from the Sh500 he charged to everybody served with his herbal concoctions.

“Part of the proceeds will be used for construction of the prayer house,”  Bishop Laizer said, explaining that the church has opened an account for donations expected for the project. Business was booming in Samunge as people began selling food and alcohol to the captive audience of pilgrims, who were also even charged to use the latrine.

However, in late 2011 the “Cup of Babu” fad was losing its appeal and traffic swamping Samunge diminished dramatically.  Perhaps it was bad PR for a “miracle cure” when the healer’s own son tragically succumbed to malaria last year.  The 76-year old cleric is now planning a comeback and expects to attract at least twice as many visitors as he did during the peak of the cure’s fame. No doubt Bishop Laizer will want the golden goose to continue laying eggs.

One journalist reports the rather mundane experience of receiving the magic cup from the miracle-man:

http://thebopproject.net/2011/09/07/3-cups-with-babu-the-road-to-loliondo/

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: American Man Attacked Outside Corridor Springs Hotel

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: American Man Attacked Outside Corridor Springs Hotel

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: Something's Rotten at Corridor Springs Hotel

Worse than originally thought, indeed!

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: Something's Rotten at Corridor Springs Hotel

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: From the Comments Section:

From our ENF member Isa's blog... her efforts to spread news about the Corridor Springs boycott have attracted some interesting guest reviews about this hotel in Arusha- from the experiences mentioned, it sounds like plenty reason itself to stay away from that place.

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: From the Comments Section:

PIUMA Demands End to Lutheran Church Corruption

 “Hundreds of millions of shillings were stolen by local hospital and church officials,” says Ms. Sanga. “There are professional audits that show this clearly. This money was stolen from the people of our area and must be returned. The Bishops of the ELCT and their foreign partners meeting in Arusha must address this lack of accountability in their system and its negative impact on the poor. Our people are dying from lack of decent care caused by theft and corruption in the Lutheran church. ”



http://www.highlandshope.com/2008/06/29/piuma-delegation-in-arusha-demands-end-to-lutheran-church-corruption/

TANZANIA: Corruption Lies at Heart of Arrest Warrant for Archbishop Mokiwa

"Behind this warrant lie years of stories of corruption by the recently retired incumbent Bishop of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Simon Makundi, who has, over the years, been accused of siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars for himself.

These funds were given by foreign donors for projects never built or overly inflated costs resulting in death threats against former TEC missionaries who threatened to expose him. Two Episcopal missionary couples were forced to leave the country, one fleeing and the other having their visas revoked through the influence of the Anglican Bishop...."

by David W. Virtue

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14544#.T0046Hn-5TY

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: Don't Support Corruption!

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel Arusha: Don't Support Corruption!: NCD Bishop Thomas Laiser NCD General Secretary Israel Ole Karyongi Corridor Springs Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania is owned by the Ev...

Boycott Corridor Springs Hotel

Staying at the Corridor Springs Hotel is the moral equivalent of buying blood diamonds.
http://boycottcorridorsprings.blogspot.com

Haunted by the Ghost of King Leopold?

Should international donors and global church missions just hand over the money and take a “hands-off” approach to avoid evoking “colonialism”?  Is this why organizations and churches in wealthy countries feel they must debase themselves and dare not demand accountability of local clergy leaders in developing nations? Expecting transparency and stewardship is the responsible thing to do. Simply throwing money at the problems plaguing developing countries perpetuates a more colonialist mentality because it empowers the society’s elitists who deprive the poorest citizens of the help they need and deserve. Make informed choices; find out where your church’s international donation is going and how it’s being used.

“Bishops and senior clergy inherited from their colonial predecessors lavish lifestyles with huge houses and expensive cars, behaving like diplomats and being bowed and scraped to as though they were medieval potentates”.  

– Hugh McCollum, Africafiles