By Francis Kagolo
THE week-long All Africa Bishops Conference closed yesterday, with the prelates condemning corruption.

“Our political leaders are urged to have a hard look at the style of leadership that has so far engendered corruption, poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment,” the prelates said in a five-page resolution.

The communiqué was read to journalists by the chairperson of the Coalition of African Prelates Association, Ian Ernest, at a briefing attended by other archbishops at the Kampala Serena Conference Centre.

Statistics show that Africa loses an estimated $150b per year through corruption. Uganda loses $258.6m (about sh569b) annually to corruption, according to the 2007 African Peer Review Mechanism Report.

The conference, which attracted over 400 bishops, including the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, ran under the theme, “securing the future, unlocking our potential.”

To fight climate change and hunger, the archbishops offered to launch an extensive tree planting programme on vacant church land.

On the HIV and AIDS pandemic, they vowed to spearhead the promotion of access to and availability of medicines, voluntary testing and empowerment of communities. More effort, they added, would be put in promoting moral practices like abstinence and marital faithfulness.

The bishops also urged leaders to invest more funds in primary health care programmes to reduce maternal, child and infant mortality.

They committed themselves to giving special attention to the needs and rights of the youth.

The prelates also reaffirmed their stand against homosexuality.

This was the second Africa Bishops Conference. The first one took place in 2004 in Lagos in Nigeria.

The bishops also pronounced themselves on conflicts in Sudan, DR Congo and Madagascar, calling for peace talks.