SEYCHELLES REALITY

This newspaper can confidently report that the office of the Speaker, who is also the Chairman of the Anti-Victimization Committee, was never broken into – all indications are pointing to an inside job, allegedly orchestrated by the ‘illegal counselor’ – an area of expertise. The deadline to submit the filled out forms by the victims of victimization to the office of the Chairman was set for the 10th April, and the office was conveniently broken into on the weekend that followed (14th, 15th,16th & 17th April); which was the Easter (long) weekend. This newspaper has had information suggesting that people who visited the LDS office at Mont Fleuri were being encouraged to filled out the forms to complain about victimization by certain specific persons they wanted to target; one of those was Mr. Martin Aglae. This in itself defeats the whole purpose of the exercise and renders the process fraudulent. In addition to the above - the whole story about an intruder or intruders in the...

Now that Nichole Tirant has been appointed Ombudsman and enjoying the perks and privileges of her Office, a Mauritian has taken it upon himself to replace her as chief spokesperson for the Opposition. In the process, his hatred of and contempt for James Michel oozes as slime through his editorials in TODAY in Seychelles. Nowhere is this more obvious than in R. Meetarbhan’s editorial of Monday 24 April. The Mauritian – a guest of this country – has the impudence and the impertinence to question a decision of the Court of Appeal to maintain the ruling of the Supreme Court that the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA) was right to refer Judge Durai Karunakaran to a tribunal of inquiry into his conduct. Meetarbhan has already concluded that there are no merits to the case of Karunakaran. In addition he urges the tribunal in question to take into account the perceptions of the public “about circumstances having triggered the Karunakaran affair”.  For him, the whole “affair”...

The “Fake Opposition” has now gone into frantic over-drive.  This is easily seen through their efforts of trying to present a credible alternative to forty years of self-righteous cults of personality that has inundated the local political landscape.  It has now upended with the fighters for democracy, freedom of speech, opinion and expression clutching at all that is contrary to their cause to advance their cause! They go as far as supporting Robert Mugabe a murderous dictator, and a shame to the African Union, just to get their two pence worth.  How much lower can you go or will you go? These are the true colours of people who want change in Seychelles.  Their dark and evil agenda is slowly and surely coming to light.  The fetid and cantankerous imaginations that are revealed should have warning bells ringing loudly in everyone ears, anyone with half a brain that is. People who are used to getting their way, and believe that the only way is thei...

The former president has announced that he will not seek re-election for the post of party president for Parti Lepep. This announcement came at the extraordinary congress held on Saturday 08th April at the ICCS. “However, I would like to reassure you that I will always be there with the Seychellois and I will always be SPUP, SPPF or Parti Lepep. I will never abandon my principle and conviction and it is because of this that I love my party  and those who believed in me, which have made my decision that the time have come to allow the new generation to lead the party and our country. It is with much pride, honour and a clean conscious that I am moving aside…….”, President Michel said. Political observers are saying that President Faure will now take over the leadership of Parti Lepep. All things considered this is a natural progression anything else will be a disaster for Parti Lepep. If we are to go with the results of the last National Assembly elections Parti Lepep is still...

In our last edition two weeks ago on the front page, we published an article in regards to a ruling by The Constitutional Court. That same week, the court ruled that the amendment to the National Assembly Members Emolument Act that provides the MNA s and Ministers with early pension as soon as they vacate their position was illegal. It held that the 2008 Amendment was ultra vires the powers of the National Assembly and therefore falls to be declared unconstitutional and void. The court made the following order: a. The provisions of sections 2(1) (c), 2(2) (d), 3(1) (c), 3A (1) (d) and 4(d) of the National Assembly Members Emoluments Act are unconstitutional and void. b. This order will have prospective effect. No order is made with regard to payments already made under the Act. c. Notice of this finding of unconstitutionality is to be served on the President of the Republic of Seychelles and the Speaker of the National Assembly in terms of Article 130(5) of the Constitution...

The generally accepted definition of a pension is the payment at regular intervals paid to a person or the person’s dependents, as a result of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.   These payments are drawn from a fund setup specifically for this purpose comprising of contributions made by the person to whom the pension is payable. Seychelles Pension Scheme is supposedly setup to work along these lines.  Seychelles citizens in employment make contributions both legally stipulated and voluntary to the pension scheme.  Based on these contributions the contributors can expect to receive a monthly pension at the end of their employment tenures or working lives. Whilst this is the generally accepted norm in the Seychelles, there are a group of people who expect everything for nothing and more for less.  The group is lead by non-other than Honourable Wavel Ramkalawan who believes that there are people who are above the normal provisio...

Dear President Faure, We the residents of Port Glaud have read of the forced return of the 10 plots of land which were sold by government to an investor. Now we are openly requesting that you summon Hon Patrick Pillay and request that he returns to the Seychelles government and the people of Port Glaud the property at Port Launay, which is protected land being a reserve of the “Sou Souri Banann” nesting place. When Mr. Pillay applied to purchase from government the prime beach front property at Port Launay, the MNA for Port Glaud in the National Assembly, Mrs. Gamatis, raised strong objections because Mr. Pillay had previously already benefitted from buying several government properties and did not therefore qualify for government land and was not a resident of Port Glaud and there were several Port-Glaud residents on the list waiting for land. It was a clear case of abuse of his privilege and position. Mr Pat Pillay However, the sale was sanctioned and the MNA’s voice was no...

This is the ruling given on Tuesday in a landmark case before the Constitutional Court  brought by Ian Delorie and spearheaded by his Attorney, Frank Elizabeth, to challenge the amendment to the National Assembly Members Emolument Act that provides the MNA s and Ministers with early special pension as soon as they vacate their position. The Court held that the 2008 Amendment was ultra vires the powers of the National Assembly and therefore falls to be declared unconstitutional and void. The court made the following order: a. The provisions of sections 2(1) (c), 2(2) (d), 3(1) (c), 3A (1) (d) and 4(d) of the National Assembly Members Emoluments Act are unconstitutional and void. b. This order will have prospective effect. No order is made with regard to payments already made under the Act. c. Notice of this finding of unconstitutionality is to be served on the President of the Republic of Seychelles and the Speaker of the National Assembly in terms of Article 130(5) of...