Graft a moral crisis: Bishops

THE Namibian Catholic Bishops Conference says the recent money scandals in Namibia are evidence of the moral crisis in which the country’s society finds itself.

The Bishops Conference had a plenary meeting recently and concluded that nothing appeared to be sacred. “Not the hard-earned money of the Namibian worker paid into our pension funds, not the foodstuffs destined for hungry Namibians living in drought conditions, not the lands destined for neighbourhoods in our municipalities.Are there no bounds to greed?” the Catholic Bishops said in a statement.They said corruption did not only exist at political governance level.”Honest reflection impels us to say that we all must look into our lives and root out the corruption that can creep in almost imperceptibly.The crisis we are experiencing in our public and private institutions in fact mirrors the crisis we observe all around us in our society”.They called on Namibians to probe their actions at all levels and correct the corruption not only on public level.The Bishops Conference said it felt compelled to issue the statement because religious leaders have an obligation to exercise vigilance over the ethical values of the society.It said recent revelations of corruption, if they had occurred in Biblical times, would have drawn similar condemnation from the prophets.”Not the hard-earned money of the Namibian worker paid into our pension funds, not the foodstuffs destined for hungry Namibians living in drought conditions, not the lands destined for neighbourhoods in our municipalities.Are there no bounds to greed?” the Catholic Bishops said in a statement.They said corruption did not only exist at political governance level.”Honest reflection impels us to say that we all must look into our lives and root out the corruption that can creep in almost imperceptibly.The crisis we are experiencing in our public and private institutions in fact mirrors the crisis we observe all around us in our society”.They called on Namibians to probe their actions at all levels and correct the corruption not only on public level.The Bishops Conference said it felt compelled to issue the statement because religious leaders have an obligation to exercise vigilance over the ethical values of the society.It said recent revelations of corruption, if they had occurred in Biblical times, would have drawn similar condemnation from the prophets.