Hekima Review No. 23 (May 2000)

The last ten years have seen a new paradigm emerge from theological discourses in Africa: the paradigm of reconstruction. A theology of the reconstruction of Africa, essentially carried out by Protestant theologians, is trying to take shape. Ka Mana, Mugambi, Karamaga, and Mulunda-Nyanga, to name but few, have each dedicated scholarly works to what they consider to be the primordial challenge of the continent. Ka Mana, for instance, argues that the religious and socio-political environment of the
continent has significantly changed. Christian theologies no longer have the monopoly of theological discourse. The political ideologies, which sustained the freedom fighters and brought about independence are slowly dying, thus leaving a more serene landscape. Africans are nowadays concerned with democracy, freedom, human rights, and wars…They dream of a new Africa. All these, Ka Mana claims, summon us to renew our way of doing theology in Africa.