SEYCHELLES REALITY

This is what the arrogant priest said in the National Assembly on Wednesday during a debate on a motion by Churchill Gill the elected member for Baie St. Anne. Wavel Ramkalawan was trying to seduce the electorates on Praslin most particularly the inhabitants of Baie St. Anne. He stated that his father was the first baby to be born in 1927 at the newly built clinic on Praslin, “I have Praslin blood in me”, he said. He also stated that his father was supposed to be on the ill-fated Mary Jane, if he hadn’t been late to catch the boat, which left without him. “I was meant to be born”, he insinuated that it was a miracle through God’s intervention that his father was not onboard the Mary Jane. In analyzing this statement by Wavel, it is clear that he is setting himself apart from mere mortals like us. And that his existence on Earth is as a result of the direct intervention of the creator; which makes him a prophet or a king for that matter. This was the thinking of people like Idi Am...

Is Ahmed Afif guilty by Association? In a stinging interview with the Today Newspaper this week, Honourable Ahmed Afif, member of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly, gave the country a preview of the findings of an FPAC investigation in the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). He hinted that the findings look pretty serious. True to his words, a report of the investigation into alleged embezzlement of funds by high officials of the FIU, namely the Irish, submitted by Wavel Ramkalawan exposed flagrant violation of financial rules and abuse of powers by the Irish oligarch. Ahmed Afif Didi While Afif vividly denounced those practices, he failed to mention that the FIU was created under his watch as PS of Ministry of Finance in June 2006 and a lot of the invoices or spending done without the appropriate invoices would have been recommended for approval by him, Mr. Ahmed Afif, the Accounts officer. Ahmed Afif claimed that no one dared question t...

We fundamentally disagree with the President that the Cohabitation between the LDS majority in the National Assembly and the Executive Government of Parti Lepep (PL) is working. We have to take several factors, which includes the economy/ costs of living into consideration in order to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on whether the Cohabitation is working or not. It is clear that the collaboration between the LDS majority in the National Assembly and the Parti Lepep Executive is proving unsuccessful when it comes to bringing down the inflated costs of living; a situation that is now unbearable for a large segment of the population. The very first statement in the speech of the President on Tuesday was about the Cohabitation, we quote: “Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to address the National Assembly today. I would like to start by confirming, Mr. Speaker, that our cohabitation is healthy and working well. What is important is that we have the will to work together for Seyc...

In a third interview given to Seychelles Today in as many months, May De Silva, once again demonstrated why she lacks the ethics to be in charge of such an important body as the Anti – Corruption Commission; this is a very sensitive organization: The Commission is charged under a Bill enacted in 2016 with the responsibility of curbing corruption in the country. Thus far, however, except for the case of a former Minister and Central Committee Member of Parti Lepep, the public has not been made privy to any ongoing investigation by the Commission. In a damning video of a meeting of Mr. Wavel Ramkalawan, Leader of the Opposition with Facebook activists in England, Ramkalawan inferred that he gives orders to Ms. De Silva with regards to prioritizing disposal of cases. That declaration by Mr. Ramkalawan, if true, is enough reason to request the resignation of May De Silva, and seems to confirm what many have been suspecting that the Commission is now a political tool being used to witch-h...

Not many ponder upon Seychelles precarious political situation ahead. Neither is there any discussion about how the country comes to be in such a tight spot did? In large part the answer lies in the massive number of political parties active in the National Assembly, which has led to a particularly fragmented assembly.  In Brazil the term “coalitional presidentialism” - a system by which the president must form and govern over a multiparty coalition, which becomes more difficult the more parties are involved. The Linyon Demokratik Sesel (LDS) comprises of a number of political parties with varying agendas who have come together with the stated objective of curtailing the excesses of the ruling party.  What it has led to is a system where the Executive has been weakened to manage the various interests of the political parties and in the same instance try to unify the various interests into a coalition for national development. Maintaining balance in such a heterogeneous e...

The mediocrity that has beset the National Assembly ever since Pat Pillay took over the Speakership, reached a new low last Tuesday when a Minister’s appointment had to be approved twice within 24 hours. Pillay, on the advice of his inept Legal Advisor, the eccentric Daniel Cesar, failed to properly apply Article 69 (2) of our Constitution. Once again, Pat Pillay was the butt of ridicule on the social media, when it became clear to all and sundry that he had misinterpreted the said Article, and had confused; “with the approval of a majority of the members of the National Assembly” with “the approval of a majority of members present and voting”. This national embarrassment came about when Pamela Charlette was nominated by President Faure for approval as Minister by the National Assembly. Mrs. Charlette failed to obtain the required seventeen votes when all members of the opposition majority decided to abstain. For the first time ever in the history of our country, the National Assembl...

Robert Ernesta aka ‘Colonel Torture’ because of the many years that he spent as an army officer at the head of the Grand Police Army Camp looked well out of place at the LDS convention last weekend. During the brief period that he was allowed to say a few words as the head of SUP; Ernesta failed to connect or make an impact or any kind of impression on the crowd, he looked like a priest at a brothel, who had gone there for the first time to have sexual intercourse with the prostitutes, but was uncomfortable to put on a condom because his religion forbids it. He was in a dilemma, however, this time it was political prostitutes that he was hanging out with and he looked uncomfortable at the podium with his backside unprotected from possible engagement from the ‘pervert’ at the top table; Ernesta was seriously uncomfortable with a white (chapelet) rosary holding up his glasses. Robert Ernesta was also uncomfortable due to the fact that he knows of many killings that have taken plac...

Information from Anse Boileau has reached this newspaper alleging that the Speaker of the National Assembly is moving in on another piece of State land. All our investigation in that matter has been met with deafening silence from the authority. It is believed that the MLUH has issued a stop notice against any more work on that piece of land at Mont Plaisir in upper Anse Boileau. Bulldozers moved onto the property without any notice to people living close by and started clearing the land of vegetation without permission from the ministry of land use and habitat, allegedly. During a visit in the area we were able to establish by talking to people in the vicinity that the land will be used for agricultural purposes, however, all indications are that the piece of land has not been officially allocated to anyone. And the person behind the activities taking place there has just moved in from his own authority. However, the people who have been working there are saying that the Speaker...

The disdainful and conceited Daniel Cesar was this Tuesday cut down to size and literally debunked by the Constitutional Court. Cesar was suspended from practicing as a Barrister for failing to turn up to formally recuse himself from the case of former Speaker Patrick Herminie versus the Anti-Victimisation Committee of the National Assembly as is required by judicial rules. Cesar was requested to do so, following his expression of intent to no longer represent Patrick Pillay, the current Speaker of the National Assembly in the said case. It is further alleged that Cesar’s clients’ account is in shamble to the extent that Cesar himself has failed to submit a copy to the Registrar of the Supreme Court despite repeated requests to do so. Under the existing rules, this is a serious offence that invariably results in the suspension of a practicing Barrister. It is widely believed that Cesar’s stance is motivated by the fact that the Attorney General has advised the current Speaker tha...

Once again the millionaire priest has won the jackpot and had gone to the UK to swell his bank balance and look after his interests, proof again to the world that he can never be president of even Coetivy. He told the assembled crowd of ten that he was on a one day mission and thought that he could have a quick meeting with them to brief them on matters relevant to their existence taking place in Seychelles. But he kept the reason for his visit to the UK secret; maybe Dave O would know; he does his banking transactions for him in the UK or maybe Wavel was out there to bank some serious money himself. The corrupt priest unashamedly told the congregation of only ten how he enjoyed pearl class privileges from his economy class seat during his flight on Air Seychelles to Paris and that other passengers were asking questions. He said that he fought for Air Seychelles staff and nurses, but not a word was spoken on the plight of the poor Stevedores who have been voting for SNP since time ...