wfn.org | LWF General Secretary Urges Togo*s Prime Minister to

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF General Secretary Urges Togo's Prime Minister to Facilitate Refugees'
Return
Inter-Faith Delegation Meets with Political and Religious Leaders

LOMÉ, Togo/GENEVA, 22 July 2005 (LWI) - The General Secretary of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, has urged Togo's
Prime Minister Edem Kodjo to facilitate the return of thousands of
refugees who fled the West African country in the wake of a political
conflict that has gripped the nation since February.

"The Prime Minister said the government was doing everything it could to
ameliorate the situation and to give guarantees to the refugees to enable
them to return," Noko said after a meeting with Kodjo in the Togolese
capital, Lomé, July 20.

The Prime Minister requested the help of leaders of all religious
traditions to help create a climate of security when the refugees
returned, noted the LWF general secretary, who was leading a seven-person
delegation drawn from the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa
(IFAPA).

IFAPA, of which Noko is convenor, was created at a pan-African summit of
religious leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002, and has sent
delegations to a number of conflict areas on the continent, supporting
inter-faith co-operation and action for peace.

Political tension in Togo re-emerged after the death in February of
President Gnassingbe Eyadema who had governed for 38 years. In April,
violence broke out after Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbe, was declared the
victor of a presidential election which the main opposition coalition
denounced as unfair. An estimated 38,000 people fled to neighboring Benin
and Ghana reportedly fearing political persecution, abduction or arrest. 
Kodjo, who was appointed Prime Minister in June, had pledged he would
ensure that no Togolese was threatened by the military, Noko said of their
meeting. The government was also preparing legislation that would grant an
amnesty to facilitate the return of refugees.

The IFAPA delegation included Christians, Muslims and members of African
Traditional Religion. During the July 17-21 visit, it met representatives
of Togo's religious communities, government officials and leaders of the
multi-party opposition coalition whose candidate lost the presidential
election. The group also visited a camp for Togolese refugees in Benin.

Leaders of the opposition coalition said religious leaders in the country
could provide a much-needed "moral authority" that  would help create a
climate of confidence. They expressed concern for the lack of justice in
Togo, and a concentration of power in the presidential office. They also
warned of a "tribalization" of the security apparatus mainly drawn from
one ethnic group.

In meetings with religious leaders, the delegation stressed the need for
an inter-religious forum that would be inclusive of all the faith
traditions and religious denominations in Togo.

"Peace in Africa can only be achieved by the collaboration of all
religious traditions, and peace in Togo will be achievable when all
religious communities make a collaborative contribution," Noko added. (480
words)

(By Stephen Brown, Ecumenical News International editor, who accompanied
the IFAPA delegation to Togo at LWF's invitation.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a total membership of nearly 66 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in
areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations,
theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the
various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is
located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
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