Like nearly all charitable organizations, PHA had been impacted by the global economic climate and required more cost-saving measures at Peace House Secondary School (PHS). In late fall of 2011, we reached out to our church partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania- North Central Diocese (NCD), to assist us in negotiating prices with local vendors, contractors, and staff. This would reduce operating costs and allow more funding for the high quality academic programs and student services for which PHS was renowned throughout the country.

Unfortunately, General Secretary Karyongi and Bishop Laiser of the NCD chose to distort this request as an opportunity to gain complete control of PHS. They quickly became adversarial by attempting to agitate our Tanzanian teachers and vendors. They colluded with immigration authorities to intimidate and harass our American PHA staff ---eventually forcing them out of the country.

On November 26th, 2011, during a scheduled school break, their aggression escalated when General Secretary Karyongi led police officers armed with assault rifles onto campus and illegally assumed possession of the school. They replaced our security force with their own and have publicly declared sole ownership of PHS. Especially bizarre are their claims that “PHA is an organization not known to the NCD” when in fact at the graduation last September, Bishop Laiser publicly proclaimed that PHS “would remain a PHA school until Jesus comes again.”

While the NCD refuses to negotiate, we have been ceaselessly working to restore our rightful ownership of the school and reached out to the following for assistance and remedies:

• Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S.
• The President of Tanzania
• U.S. State Department
• The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
• Bishops of all dioceses within ELCT
• International arbitration
• Tanzanian legal advocates
• Non-governmental organizations operating in Tanzania

Although PHA staff cannot access the campus, the NCD commenced classes and students did safely return to campus for the new school year on January 14. In the mean time, it remains critical that we actively carry out our mission. We are strengthening the scholarship program which revisits our roots of supporting education within communities and will continue sponsorship for eligible PHS graduates at Advanced-level government schools.

We remain committed to the continued education of our students. PHA is proud that our school ranked 7th out of 320 secondary schools in the northern region. As we work to reclaim the school, we will continue to help vulnerable Tanzanian children receive a quality education and will stand up for what’s right. As our supporters, we ask for your patience and understanding as we continue to work through this.  We urge you to stand with us in sending a clear message that a collective spirit of compassion and hope will prevail over corruption and injustice.

The seizure of PHS has attracted the attention of anti-corruption activists. A member of one group,“E.N.F.” (Enough! of Corruption inAfrica), has created a blog advocating a boycott of the NCD-owned Corridor Springs Hotel. More information about the boycott and how Corridor Springs Hotel ties in to the seizure of PHS can be found at: www.boycottcorridorsprings.blogspot.com.

More about African church corruption can be found at www.enf-ofcorruption.blogspot.com