News
The prime minister of uranium-rich Namibia favours his country ratifying the Africa Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, a long-delayed milestone that requires action by only two more states, but with a caveat about peace.
"We want this God-given resource [uranium] to be used only for peaceful purposes – that is our dream, our wish and our hope," said Prime Minister Nahas Angula, responding a question on the subject during a press briefing in Geneva on Wednesday. "I thought we had ratified the Treaty long time ago," he added. "I will follow up the issue when I am back home."
More and more countries and companies are looking to Africa's uranium reserves to fuel nuclear plants and economic growth while coping with global warming. The World Council of Churches (WCC) had a delegation in Namibia last October as part of its initiative to help bring the Africa Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty into force.
The Africa nuclear-weapon-free zone would protect Africa from nuclear weapons and provide countries like Namibia, which is a large and growing exporter of uranium, with safeguards over the security, environmental and commercial risks that come with uranium use. If, as Angula said, Namibia wants to ensure that its uranium is never exploited to make a nuclear bomb, the treaty will help with that also.
Angula was in Geneva for a UN conference on another issue where Africa has been exploited, racism. "I am satisfied with the deliberations of the review process and with the [UN Durban Review Conference] final declaration", he stated, calling the latter "a moral compass" that should inspire global citizens by its moral authority.
If it is true that Namibia was born from the struggle against colonialism and apartheid, "there is still a long way to go" when it comes to eradicating racism from "culture, economy, traditions, social structures," said Angula.
A member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, Angula stressed that churches should be in the forefront of efforts to combat racism as they were in the struggle against apartheid.
WCC member churches in Namibia
