SEYCHELLES REALITY

‘Innocent until proven guilty’ This newspaper has been following development in regards to the allegation of corruption made against the former Minister of Home Affairs, very closely. We have also spoken to the security company at the centre of this controversy to establish the facts about this situation because this newspaper is totally against any form of corruption. The editor quit opposition party politics because they had become corrupt like this government and when he left they targeted him to try silencing him, they have failed. We are of the view that corruption in government and out is almost entirely responsible for the exaggerated high costs of living. This country is a very small country with a tiny economy and corruption is having a direct impact on the country’s financial matters and it is affecting the ordinary Seselwa the most, especially those on low incomes. According to the local agency that did the recruitment for the Nepalese security guards for the Montagn...

The NDEA was on SBC on Wednesday night, to nullify allegations of drugs being found on the property of the Minister. According to the new head of the NDEA, Mr. Liam Quinn the drugs found on Praslin, which amounted to almost one kilo was not found on the property of Minister Larue and it is not connected to her in any manner or form as was being rumored by the LDS leadership – who had only one thing on his mind and that was to destroy the reputation of a government minister instead of establishing the real facts in that matter.  It was clear that the accusation was politically motivated to cause damage to the government. The problem with this kind of strategy is that it is in fact helping the government because when there is a true story people have a propensity to doubt its authenticity. It is of paramount importance for influential people in society to verify the facts about any story before they pronounce an opinion. Independent

Dear Roger  RESIGNATION – TREASURER AND CHAIRPERSON SNP WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION I would like to thank you for your kind attention on Monday, and in understanding my position in respect of various issues which has left me with no other alternative but to resign from the above posts that I have been holding with the Party. Sadly, this decision has been taken after evaluating and assessing my position, as an Office bearer, particularly in the post of Treasurer. I have therefore decided that this is the best option in order to safeguard my integrity, which cannot be compromised in financial transactions that I have no knowledge of. The bye-election of Mont Fleurie district has shown me that the Party is not living up to its cause, which is democracy and transparency, and furthermore, our Party Constitution is not being respected. I always believed that the SNP existed because the people who ...

It was a well thought out plan by Wavel Ramkalawan to satisfy his financial backers, by using delaying tactics. We are of the opinion, that his little plan to stall the end of the year benefit for private sector workers to please his paymasters has not worked to his satisfaction LDS majority voted against 13th month salary and the people are not fooled. The political backlash could be costly for the multi-millionaire Anglican priest. Wavel along with all the other MNAs, will earn an end of year extra pay cheque each. The ordinary MNAs will take home an additional scr80,000 each (eighty thousand rupees) as end of year bonus. Being the leader of opposition, Wavel will earn himself an additional scr102,000 (one hundred and two thousand rupees) as end of year gratuity. The MNAs doesn’t care where the money is coming from, or who is making the sacrifices for them to earn this kind of money. However, when it comes to giving the private sector workers the same benefits; a 13th month sal...

The Elected Member for Baie St. Anne tabled a National Assembly motion this week in the asking the Government and all concerned to take steps to address bullying in our schools. The Leader of Opposition played down and trivialized the issue, saying that the problem of bullying is being magnified and exaggerated. This is not what the many people being affected by bullying expected from Wavel. He went on to state that his son goes to a private school and the problem is nonexistent at The Independent School. When it came to voting for the motion Wavel abstained – The Speaker without realizing that situation said that the motion had been accepted unanimously, when it was queried by PL members. The Speaker asked for a fresh vote to be taken and this time around Gervais Henri also abstained. This is an episode tantamount to an old story about Mr. Joseph Jeanmore and Harry Savy – every time Harry would fart it was Joseph who would excuse himself for farting. It was a slavish mentality...

Many people over the years have tried to use the good name of Gerard Hoareau and his assassination on a cold winter’s morning in London on 29th November 1985 to advance their political agenda. In our opinion this is totally distasteful. Certain LDS top officials, in the run-up to the National Assembly elections used and abused the hero’s memory to try win the election. However, on Tuesday this week in the National Assembly, they failed to observed a minute silence to honor the memory of Gerard Hoareau and all who have been killed fighting for freedom in Seychelles. Speaker Patrick Pillay has full authority over proceedings he could have called for a minute of silence. Proving beyond doubt that they are all a bunch of hypocrites….. The Speaker himself in an article written in his party’s mouthpiece earlier this year, insinuated that the editor of this newspaper might have played a role in Gerard’s killing. It was gutter politics at its worse, coming from a highly educated man. Where...

On Tuesday Jean Francois Ferrari was disrespectful to Minister Dogley in the National Assembly – he was calling him “Minis SPPF” several times and The Speaker failed to intervene to call him to order and to ask him to withdraw his remarks. The way that he was talking to the Minister clearly had a racist connotation to it; the white slave master speaking down to the black man. However, the Minister who is far too polite than JFF will ever be, took it in his stride. Jean Francois continued his shenanigan in the afternoon when he had another go at the same Minister this time about land that had been leased out to a construction company for a hotel development, allegedly. Even if Minister Dogley is not holding the land portfolio Jean Francois persisted with his assault on him encouraged by the Speaker’s hesitation to rein him back. It must be stated that Jean Francois Ferrari is the eldest son of former Minister Dr. Maxime Ferrari – who was land minister in the government of President ...

The National Assembly on Tuesday this week discussed the 13th month salary issue, a topic that has captured the attention of workers in the private sector. After damaging reports in this newspaper and on social media that he was trying to kill off the 13th month salary proposal to protect his ‘big business’ friends and financial backers, Wavel Ramkalawan, the leader of the opposition tabled an emergency motion summoning the new Minister of Employment Wallace Cosgrow to come and give details to the Assembly about the impending Bill. During the discussions on the subject, it was abundantly clear that Wavel Ramkalawan and all opposition MNA’s who intervened in the debate were against the idea of the 13th month salary which they had previously claimed was their idea. The high profile members of the opposition were all struggling to support the idea of a 13th month pay cheque which their supporters see as a big let-down. In their deliberations, National Assembly members, Wavel Ramkalawa...

Wavel Ramkalawan playing games with private sector workers. Last week the Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, had the following motion on the order paper: With the aim to reduce costs of living in Seychelles and fight poverty, which continues to impact on the population, this National Assembly is appealing to STC and all other retailers to take it upon themselves to import essential commodities for sale at the lowest possible prices.’  It is important to note at this stage that there was no mention of the 13th month salary for private sector workers anywhere in his original motion for last week order paper. And that he was appealing to STC and other merchants only to address the high costs of living - not the government. If the Honorable Gentleman was genuine in doing something about the high costs of living he could have asked for an increment in salary for all the workers to meet the high prices in the shops and the exo...

Listening to Bernard Georges speaking in the National Assembly on Wednesday morning one would be forgiven to think that this man is a saint. Bernard said that he has been amongst those who had their hands in the mud fighting the system for social and political equality. In fact Bernard has done very little in that direction when compared to the Editor of this newspaper, who put his life on the line to fight the system and had to defend and fight many legal battles to stay out of prison, because of his political work. We would like to remind the Honorable Member for Les Mamelles that he is up to his neck in mud and muck - it has nothing to do with fighting for the interests of the people, democracy, justice or freedom for the Seychellois. Bernard Georges was prepared to play his game with the system to get ahead and stay out of prison because of his illicit activities in his clients’ accounts. What was Bernard Georges doing launching President Michel’s book at State House in 2014 an...

The 13th month salary for the private sector is being literally killed off by both the Government and the LDS. It is about a year since former President Michel brought in legislation to reward public sector workers for their hard work and devotion with an extra month salary at the end of the year. It was also promised at the time that legislation would be introduced to compensate private sector workers as well. This provided businesses with anticipation time. In six weeks 2016 will come to an end and still no legislation in sight for the private sector workers to benefit from the 13th month salary. In fact, when the 13th month salary was first spoken about in 2015 both Government and the LDS said that it was their proposal and they fought over who was stealing the idea from each other. It was kindergarten stuff; little boys fighting over a candy bar or over who should stand at the front of the class. Be it as it may former President Michel ploughed on with introducing legislation t...

Paying for the services of a prostitute is not a prudent strategy. As an irrational one-time gesture this can barely be passed off whilst as a strategy it has grave consequences. The results of such an action are emotional satisfaction and financial blunder. Both these results LDS: Letting Down Seychelles were on display this week in the National Assembly. In the first instance, emotional satisfaction was gained by LDS in the rejection of Dr. Patrick Herminie ministerial appointment on political grounds. It was a victory of grand emotional value but a Pyrrhic victory at most. Which candidate that was presented before the National Assembly can aspire to the professional expertise, qualifications and abilities displayed by Dr. Herminie? Not liking the man is an emotion that should never ever be allowed to cloud any rational argument. This is especially so when the argument is objective and seeks to address issues that have national, regional and international repercussions. Worse still...

The MNA for Anse Etoile, Ahmed Afif, who was once Principal Secretary for Finance, could not let the chance of scrutinizing the ministerial nominees last week, to show how savvy he is on financial and taxation issues. Quizzing Dr Peter Larose - who has since been appointed Minister of Finance, Afif let out that he is against the new Progressive Income Tax System. In the past, the opposition, notably the SNP has always advocated such a system and in fact when Government announced the new mechanism, it was quick to scream that “another of their ideas had been stolen”. Yet, last Wednesday, Ahmed Afif told the National Assembly that the new tax laws would return the country to the old complicated system that the IMF had criticised at the start of the economic reform programme, which was in October 2008. Afif said that: “The IMF said at the time that our tax system was too complicated and advocated a more equitable system by applying a flat rate of 15% across the board”. Afif we...

The National Assembly is fast becoming the major source of rancor for the population. Many people who voted for change now doubt their decision. The National Assembly is descending along the path of what could easily be termed a dangerous situation. There is no way to know how it will end!! There is a real possibility for things to get out of control and instead of healing old wounds fresh ones will open up and the healing process stretch over a longer period. There is no doubt that many many crimes against the people have been committed during the one party era and also several years into the Third Republic – and the truth is that thousands of people in one way or another is responsible for these crimes. So, how are we going to handle this very precarious matter? The way that the National Assembly Members are going about this business is like trying to put out a fire by throwing benzene at it. This will create a most volatile condition. When the Editor of this newspaper was placed...

This is a legitimate question under the circumstances - during the interaction of Dr. Peter Larose with the National Assembly this week to talk about his nomination for minister. Clifford Andre singled out the IDC for special attention.  It must be said that there are many companies, private and public, with overseas bank accounts. However, Clifford went straight to IDC he wanted to know if Dr. Larose would do anything to stop IDC from banking overseas or something to that effect. He could have said Air Seychelles. This is a remarkable situation and it shows clearly the intention of the MNA. Clifford is known for his ‘wheeling and dealing’ when he was a National Assembly Member for Parti Lepep, he was seen walking in town in the company of foreigners from all the corners of the world pushing their agenda aggressively for business and even for passports.  Clifford Andre was also sanctioned by a judge of the Supreme Court for a fraudulent declaration at the Land Registrar....

Dr. Peter Larose was before the National Assembly on Wednesday to interact with the Honorable Members to answer questions following his nomination as a cabinet minister. It is common knowledge that Dr. Larose’s forte is in the field of finance and banking. Following a question from Jean-Francois Ferrari Dr. Larose acknowledged that 50 million American dollars was transferred as a grant to the Central Bank for the Seychelles government from the UAE authority. He also stated that this money was transferred back to an account overseas in the name of a local parastatal company. Ahmed Afif decided to press Dr. Larose for specifications in an attempt to play cheap politics. Dr. Peter Larose reminded Ahmed Afif rightly of the fact that he too was in government at the time and he (Afif) kept quiet about this issue as well. The corrupt nature of Ahmed Afif rose to the surface when he lied to the National Assembly and to nation on Wednesday by stating that he was told that the money had come...

Concerns are growing in the country with regards to long term social, political and economic stability. After the win of the opposition coalition at the National Assembly elections, it was assumed that the political tensions and divisions now sweeping the country would subside. The expectation was that the political leaders call for calm would be respected and that the country would return to normal. But this does not seem to be happening to the worry of many people. The LDS opposition leaders themselves have chosen to propagate this state of uneasiness by challenging the constitution at a time when political tension is high. Ironically this is the same constitution which they swore to defend and uphold only a week or two ago. They are now insisting that the Vice President cannot take over from the President who has resigned, that is in spite of the fact that the constitution makes provision for such an orderly transition. The current Vice President was elected on the same ticket...

Change for the better is a good thing but Change for the sake of change is alarming. The two main protagonists for change in the National Assembly, Wavel Ramkalawan and Jean-Francois Ferrari are the two most angry and vengeful people in the opposition LDS; they are both former SPUP/SPPF and they both share the same fiery characters; they hate each other. Those two opposition politicians are blinded by their anger and their urge to seek revenge for events that happened many years ago. Both Ramkalawan and Ferrari are prepared to lead this country on the road to destruction in order to achieve their aims. Compromise is not a word that exists in their vocabulary. Strangely enough, the two of them do not see eye-to-eye on a range of issues and given absolute power, they would be a disaster. Albeit, Ferrari is politically smarter than Ramkalawan and consequently he has a very low opinion of his boss. They have clashed many times in the past and Roger Mancienne has had to intervene and act ...

An LDS leader was quizzed by the authority over the weekend in regards to involvement in laundering dirty money. This is not the first time that this lawyer has had to answer questions for allege involvement with trying to hide illicit proceeds for alleged drug dealers. The same person is known to have tried to buy a property with drugs money, only, in the recent past. This is a fresh involvement where vehicles known to belong to people suspected to be dealing in drugs are registered in the lawyer’s name. The authorities have shied away in the past from pursuing the culprit criminally for fear of being accused of political persecution. This is an unfair situation by any standard if it was an ordinary citizen the law enforcement agencies would have jumped on his/her back with both legs, so to speak. It is corruption in the real sense of the word. It goes to show that we will never get to the bottom of the drug problem in Seychelles – if we cannot deal with the people who are front...

What does the Constitution say? Article 55(1) – “Where the President dies, resigns or is removed from office, the Vice-President shall assume the office of President for the unexpired term of the President with effect from the death, resignation or removal from office of the President” James Michel announced his resignation from Office of President on 27 September 2016 to take effect on 16 October 2016. He also announced that Danny Faure will run the country as President for the unexpired term of his presidency. Article 66 (11) – “Where the Vice-President assumes the office of the President under article 55 (1) (a) The (new) President shall, with the approval of the National Assembly, appoint a person to be Vice-President;  (b) The person who at the time is designated Minister shall immediately cease to be designated Minister and the (new) President shall designate a person, who may be the first-mentioned person, for approval by the National Assembly as designated Minist...

Patrick Pillay has made a good start as Speaker of the National Assembly. In his deliberation during the second sitting of the new assembly, the speaker was gracious to the outgoing president and called for members and the population to show respect for the president. This change of heart has taken many by surprise when compared to the vitriolic he was spitting out before and during the election campaign; there was no love lost between him and President Michel. But things have changed and Speaker Pillay’s LDS coalition has achieved its stated aim of removing James Michel from power. So what now for the opposition coalition? This newspaper have previously pointed out that at no time has Mr. Pillay criticized Vice President Faure. In fact they had kept their channel of communication open in the background. Now that Danny Faure will be the new President, it would not be surprising to see Mr. Pillay and company either go back to their old SPPF roots or collaborate closely with them. Af...

After the euphoria of the LDS opposition win, now comes the stark reality of running a country. The complexities of political life in this small country of ours just got a little more complex. How do the two parties work together for the benefit of our country and all our people? Now that the celebrations are over, it is slowly sinking in that Parti Lepep is still in power. James Michel is still the President and that LDS in spite of its five seat advantage, got 226 popular votes more than PL. With just over thirty thousand votes each, it is pretty clear that the country is split down the middle and strictly along party lines. What does that mean for the rest of us? The opposition does not have a big enough majority in the Assembly to effect change without the consent of the President through his power to ‘assent’ Bills. They are not in a position to sanction Ministers or indeed sanction the President. They cannot amend the Constitution. For those knife wielding powers, LDS would h...

Stella Afif is now the undisputed Queen of sleaze with one of the biggest foul mouths in the country; not so long ago she wanted to know if former President Rene was in pampers. We just wonder if her sister would have said the same about the former president. Stella has now gone further with her latest insults directed at her brother-in-law and the Islamic faith, the spiritual faith of her husband. This woman has now stepped out too far with her insults and must be reined back before she does more damage with her lousy mouth. She has managed to push JFF, the King of insults, back down in second place a hard feat to attain. However, Stella Afif is muted on the two pieces of land she bought from government, which this newspaper has been asking her to explain – when government policy only allow for one plot per person, without land. The way in which she executed this fraudulent activity goes to show that the lady a schemer and devious woman. On the 25th March 1994 parcel No. H3013 (...

The first meeting of the newly elected National Assembly has been called for Tuesday, 27th September 2016; it will begin at 9.00a.m. According to the Constitution the speaker of the former National Assembly remain in office until a new one is elected; Dr. Patrick Herminie will preside over the first sitting, which will see the swearing in of the newly elected members. It will be followed with the election of the new speaker and both the outgoing and the newly elected speaker will address the house, followed by a recess. There is a strong possibility that Patrick Pillay will be elected Speaker of the new National Assembly. The second sitting will reconvene after an hour at 10 am on the same day - chaired this time by the new Speaker to elect a leader of opposition and a deputy speaker. The leader of government business is appointed by the President this will also be announced. This will set out the first ever parliament in our political history where the opposition holds the majorit...

Despite the LDS win of 19 seats to 14 seats the ruling Parti Lepep remains in power with James Michel as President until their mandate runs out in four years time in 2020. The LDS victory means however that it will nominate the Speaker of the Assembly, in addition to the Leader of the Opposition. They will be in control of the legislation making body of the country for the next five years. For LDS to bring about radical changes in the Executive, it is necessary to have a 2/3 majority, in other words at least 23 seats. Even then, it could only vote out a President at a time of acute crisis, or gross wrongdoing by the Presidency which would have to be upheld by the Supreme Court. The Speaker is a crucial post as he or she decides what items, such as proposed legislation, motions and questions will feature on the Assembly’s Order Paper. Since 1993, when Ramkalawan was the sole member of the United Opposition (UO) party, the Assembly has been meeting once a week, which is on Tuesday....

History has shown over and over again that many election campaigns and manifesto pledges with all their promises made by the parties leading politicians have turned out to be downright lies and had been nothing more than gimmicks to win voters. When in power the wishes of the people, what they’re supposed to serve, are mainly ignored. The general perception these days is that our political system is highly corrupt. Our leaders are pathological liars even when they are Priests, lacking in genuine caring, thoughtfulness and empathy. So are most other politicians, while remaining spineless, weak and like their leaders, too programmed, brainwashed, arrogant and self-centered to see outside of the grand deception. People voting for the major parties describing it as exercising their so-called ‘democratic right’ while calling abstainers apathetic intending to induce guilt are just plain wrong: Electing one of the major political parties is a way of not only giving your power away, allowi...

According to a reliable source from within her circle the wife of the erstwhile PS for finance Ahmed Afif is now a very angry woman following our article exposing her as a cheat. The lady with a big mouth has gone silent on us and has not said one word to explain her acquisition of more than one plot of land from government and/or to explain the manner in which she did it. We are bringing you here the full story on how Mrs. Afif and her husband executed a devious little plan to fool the system or was it all orchestrated with the full collaboration of their friends in government at the time. Be it as it may Stella is known to be the one who is wearing the pants. In fact she is the one leading the campaign at Anse Etoile for a National Assembly seat for Ahmed. Will the electorate be fooled on the 10th of September by her wicked charm? On the 30th March 1994 Stella bought parcel H3013 from government under her maiden name; later in that same year (28-09-1994) she transferred ½ of that...