Anton Lever

Africa – a rich continent

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June 26, 2013

The African continent generates massive amounts of money. You don’t believe me, right?

Well, it’s true. It’s been said that 60% of these funds generated from natural resources, government revenue and official development assistance leave the continent and ends up financing private wealth in offshore financial centers.

These centers thrive on the tradition of banking secrecy and can be found in London, New York and Paris.

Corruption affects the poor directly since it increases the price for public services, lowers its quality and often restricts poor people’s access to water, education, health care and many other key services.

It also distorts poor people’s relationships with and trust for public officials, the police and people in authority who extort bribes from them.

Corruption thrives in an environment where power of individual members of society measured in terms of access to people in power and financial resources supersedes the rule of law.

The poor lack power and thus lack opportunity to “make it” in such a society. They are more vulnerable to extortion and cannot use corruption in their favor.

However, corruption also hurts the poor indirectly because corruption is an impediment to economic growth, reinforces inequality, distorts public expenditure allocation and through many other channels is an obstacle to poverty alleviation.

Huguette Labelle made these comments….

What is your thinking; do you feel you’ve been affected by corruption?

Giving birth to a witch?

May 3, 2013

Kindoki is the Lingala word for witchcraft.

It is one of hundreds of words denoting spiritual evil in the many African languages spoken wherever Africans live. Belief in witchcraft is widespread both in towns and rural areas.

It is also present in Europe, where Africans have migrated in the last 50 years.

In Africa it is quite common for children to be accused of being witches and the phenomenon is particularly strong in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Even though it is illegal to accuse children of witchcraft in DRC, revivalist churches, preaching the benefits of child exorcism, have gained great power in the past decade.

In Kinshasa, local charities say high unemployment and unaffordable healthcare are driving more people to rely on these fringe churches for guidance and support.

The Pastors of these churches often target families who are experiencing difficult circumstances and they convince parents that the children are witches and are possessed by evil spirits that needs to be exorcised. These pastors are willing to help….at a price of course.

This usually means that the children are tortured in various ways including nails driven into their heads, being buried alive, being mutilated and just left to die by their families.

Children as young as eight years old in Nigeria are being accused of being witches by pastors.

The children who are accused of kindoki become outcasts within their communities and are then abandoned by their own families.

It is unimaginable for me to think that these parents who are supposed to protect their innocent children are the very one’s betraying them.

Fortunately there are organizations that provide help for children who find themselves in these situations. An organization called Stepping Stone Nigeria provides shelter and food to displaced children.

There are also other organizations involved in this challenge around the world; the one that comes to mind is AFRUCA (Africa Unite Against Child Abuse). This organization in the United Kingdom has been working tirelessly behind the scenes tackling the plight of African children everywhere.

Somali Piracy

Anton Lever

April 5, 2013

I think by now we all know about Somali Piracy. We’ve heard about it often enough in the media. And when you hear about all these kidnappings, the huge amounts of money paid as ransom to spare lives, it really stirs up a lot of anger. Imagine your family member being kidnapped and held for ransom in a lawless country. You don’t know what their circumstances are or whether you are ever going to see them alive even if a ransom is paid. More often than not, those being kidnapped are not wealthy and governments often have to step in to try and solve the problem.

It’s been more than half a decade since Somali men started attacking Indian Ocean shipping from small speedboats with AK-47s, grappling hooks and ladders. In a recent article that I read, it said that the attacks have become less frequent, although there still is a problem.

According to media reports, pirates are dangerous thugs that need to be wiped out. But surely there is another side to this story?

For my programme “Pinnacle Perspective” I interviewed a Somali national to try and get a different angle to the piracy debacle. He gave me some interesting insights into what is really going in Somalia and where it all started.

Doing research on the topic, I stumbled on the following information, which might change your perspective about the reality of Piracy in the Somalia.

During the cold war Somalia was a prize to be had at any cost.

1980 – Thousands of Somali’s are slaughtered under Mohammed Siad Barre’s orders, 1986 – Somali revolution against Barre begins. Severe drought and unrest cause hundreds of thousands of nomads to move to the coast line. People develop into communities who depend on fish as a way of life, 1991 – Siad Barre is forced out of power. A counter revolution begins trying to reinstate him. To insulate itself from the war, a region known as Somaliland declares independence. Barre is finally exiled, but civil war between warlords rages on.

Illegal fishing trawlers begin to trespass and fish in Somali waters.

1992 – UN troops land in Somalia led by the United States, 1993 – 1000 to 1500 Somali civilians lost their lives. 18 US soldiers are killed and 84 wounded. All US and UN troops withdraw from Somalia leaving the country in the hands of warlords, 2000 – Somali fishermen document cases of trawlers attacking them. Several Somali fishermen are killed. The fishermen arm themselves to defend their livelihoods. So do the illegal fishing trawlers, 2005 – UN estimates 700 foreign-owned vessels are illegally fishing in the Somali waters at any one time.

After the 2004 tsunami, hundreds of leaking toxic waste disposal barrels are mysteriously washed up on Somali shores. People begin to suffer from radiation sickness, many die.

Although I do not condone the kidnappings and killings, but maybe now you have a better understanding of why all this spiraled so out of control.

To Die For

Anton Lever

March 12, 2013

Did you know that there is blood on your cell phone?

When I first heard this question, I had to find out more.

What I discovered next shocked me and I felt compelled to tell everybody the truth about conflict minerals.

Tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are all conflict minerals, all of which are found in cell phones and laptops etc.

Here are some interesting facts about these minerals:-

Tin – used for joining wires to circuit boards in cell phones

Tantalum – stores electricity in cell phones. Without tantalum your phone would fall silent

Tungsten – enables your cell phone to vibrate

Gold – used to coat the wiring and is the highest value metal inside your cell phone. Finally,

Coltan – (also known as black gold) without coltan cell phones cannot operate.

Coltan is also partially responsible for the death of over 5 million people in Congo since 1990.

Those who mine coltan are not aware of its uses, mainly because most of them are young children. Armoured groups make millions of dollars each year trading these minerals.

Guess what they buy with these millions? Weapons! Hence the name conflict minerals.

Amazingly what should have been a blessing to many, who found employment, has now become a curse.

In an attempt to bring an end to minerals being used in this manner some electronic companies have signed codes of conduct excluding conflict minerals from their supply chains.

As you have read these statistics, I am sure you are now aware that trading conflict minerals is a very complex problem and one that will not easily be remedied.

It therefore remains for us to put pressure on more electronic companies to raise awareness so that they too will sign the code of conduct. Then maybe in our life time the use of conflict minerals will be eradicated completely.

“A BUTT NAKED REDEMPTION!”

Anton Lever

February 21, 2013

Have you, like me, ever wondered what can be done to end the brutality that has ravaged the African continent? How on earth is it possible that one human being can brutalize another as if it is nothing?

Look at the wars that have taken place on the continent eg. the Liberian war, the war in Sierra Leone, and don’t forget the Rwandan genocide to mention but a few. Even now as I write, war rages in the DRC and there are killings daily in Somalia and Mali.

We often think of murderous people as less than human. But they are not. They are human beings just like you and I, with a soul. I have long considered that these warlords/rebels are under demonic influences and all one can hope for is for them to die so that their evil treachery will cease. However, they were created by God just like you and I. So therefore they can be saved, just like you and I.

If we believe that nothing is too difficult for God then certainly he can turn their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. And to prove this, I have a testimony to share with you that I saw the other day. It blew me away, to say the least.

The testimony of General Butt Naked whose real name is Joshua Milton Blahyi.

Joshua was at one stage believed to be one of the most inhumane and ruthless guerrilla leaders in Africa’s history.

SOURCE: http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Image:The-Redemption-of-General-Butt-Naked-Screen5.jpg

After the former General Butt Naked confessed his past to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2008, one internet blogger asked: ‘Is this the most evil man who ever lived?’

Today he is an evangelist proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

SOURCE: http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=Image:The-Redemption-of-General-Butt-Naked-Screen0.jpg

If you consider all that he has done and all he was involved in, you can only see God’s awesome mighty power at work. His testimony points directly to the cross of Jesus, and that is exactly what our testimonies should do.

One sometimes feels helpless seeing and hearing about all the atrocities in our continent, but do not lose hope; God is still on the throne.

Dare I suggest, that instead of becoming despondent, we pray for those who persecute others, and not against them. Imagine the harvest if all these lost souls turned to Christ …..

Kony 2013?

Anton Lever

February 7, 2013

According to the Kony 2012 campaign, (a video campaign to show the world who Kony is and what he has done), Joseph Kony was to be hunted down and captured and brought to book before the end of 2012. When I first saw it, I was glad to see that someone is doing something to bring this mad man who is responsible for so many atrocities to book and that the entire world was behind the organization “Invisible Children”, who produced the video.

It was not long before other YouTube videos surfaced in response to the “Invisible Children” video.

I don’t doubt that everybody now know who Kony is, since the video of the man went viral on YouTube last year.

There were conflicting reports that Kony was no longer alive or that the video was just a propaganda piece and that there was money being made out of the “make Kony famous” campaign.

Invisible Children, the group behind Kony 2012 has created a groundswell of support for Uganda’s dictator Yoweri Museveni who has been in power for almost 30 years. Museveni, I might add, is seen by some as a murderer himself. Some say that Museveni has been implicated in genocide after allegedly ordering his guards to shoot and kill civilians.

Stories doing the rounds suggest that the Kony 2012 group itself is said to be a ruthless business empire that spends the majority of its income on its own expenses. Also it’s been said that the organization refuses to allow its financials to be properly audited and is alleged it has a low two-star rating in accountability from Charity Navigator.

However, more than that is the speculation that this is once again an African invasion. Yes, it is once again all about Africa’s resources and who can get their hands on it.

This all in the name of rescuing children and innocent civilians from the hands of a ruthless murderer.

In the US, two House lawmakers introduced a resolution last year that sought to deepen US Military involvement in Africa on the back of the Kony 2012 “hoax”, despite the fact that Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army have been virtually inactive for six years.

And so it is speculated that it is all about the gold, raw steel, tin, tungsten, diamonds and don’t forget the oil.

Rumor has it that Invisible Children is a US government sponsored organization and used this opportunity to “get Joseph Kony” to get into Uganda. What do you think?

It is now 2013. Silence…no word on whether this goal was achieved, but I am sure that if it was, it would have made headline news. The only news from the LRA (of which Kony is head), is the death of his bodyguard recently.

M23 rebels promise to leave Goma within 48 hours

Anton Lever

November 28, 2012

M23 rebels promise to leave Goma within 48 hours

Members of the Democratic Republic of the Cong (DRC)’s M23 rebel movement said today that they are willing to withdraw from the captured city of Goma in line with a demand by regional leaders and the African Union (AU).

Officers and soldiers from the group spoke to CNN and said that the M23 forces will pull back to a position 20 kilometers north of Goma.

As of early this morning there was no sign of movement in Goma. The rebels seized Goma last week after days of fighting with government forces.

the city however remained calm as people sought to go about their normal business.

A U.N. official said late yesterday that the rebels appeared to be starting to withdraw from Goma after defying a deadline set by regional leaders under which they were supposed to leave by midnight Monday.

African leaders who convened in Uganda over the weekend demanded that the M23 group withdraw from Goma as a condition of initiating negotiations.

The Great Lakes region leaders called on the rebels to stop all war activities and”stop talk of overthrowing an elected government.

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Anton Lever

Africa – a rich continent

Giving birth to a witch?

Somali Piracy

To Die For

“A BUTT NAKED REDEMPTION!”

Kony 2013?

M23 rebels promise to leave Goma within 48 hours

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