SEYCHELLES REALITY

This newspaper has waited for twelve months to allow time for the new presidency and the LDS majority in the National Assembly to settle down in their new responsibility. What has resulted out of the last twelve months has shocked a big majority of the people. The Executive has gone into cahoots with the LDS majority in the National Assembly to serve their personal interests and that of their close friends. In the last year they have collaborated with the intention of conspiring against the people of this country. It is now time to tell the story as it continues to unfold in the second year of their mandate. The LDS made a big deal about the land issue to gain maximum political mileage. We will not go into details as the stories have been all over the local media; television, newspapers, radio stations, blogs, YouTube and facebook. They have now practically gone silent on the issue or at least not as aggressive as before. The reason for that is to protect many people in the LDS and e...

This newspaper attended a press conference a while back for the launching of a survey by the ACCS to try and establish the level of corruption in Seychelles. The ACCS has sent out 15,000 leaflets by post for the public to fill and return with postage fully paid for by ACCS with the collaboration of the Postal Services. During the said press meeting we noticed that the CEO was not present for such an important event, when we queried that fact we were told she was on overseas mission. But, what about the Chairman, where is he? We haven’t heard from him in a long time. We have since learned that the lady was in the UK to recruit a foreign firm for the investigation into the disappearance of the fifty million (50,000,000) dollars, which was a donation from the UAE. The money was transferred by the Central Bank of Seychelles into a Bank of Baroda account in the UK. This little exercise of hiring a foreign firm is going to costs millions and this news will come as a big surprise to the peo...

As the first anniversary of LDS victory in the 2016 parliamentary elections is being celebrated, people, especially ordinary working men and women, are asking themselves one question. What have they, and Seychelles as a country, gained as a result of the LDS victory? The answer is a fat zero. LDS posed itself as a group of professional musicians who were about to perform a spectacular show, but one year later, they are still fine-tuning their instruments .It is a disappointment, embarrassment and disgrace for all who believed in them. Pat Pillay or better known as Ton Pat is one of the LDS leaders. He is known to be strange, very reckless and at times even eccentric. But he made a very valid point some weeks back in an interview with the newspaper “Today in Seychelles”.  What he said, was that before LDS won its victory in the 2016 National Assembly Elections, there were lots of talks about corruption in the government of Parti Lepep. That message came out strongly throughout its...

Since Seychelles gained independence in 1976, the country has known four Presidents. There have been James Mancham, Albert Rene, James Michel and now presently in power is Danny Faure. We have known the legacies of three of them who have ascended to power and already left it. President Faure is still in his first mandate and therefore, we have to wait a while longer to know what he will be remembered for. But despite the fact that there have been some clouds following the Presidencies of all three former leaders, they have also contributed significantly to the development of Seychelles.  The country must never forget it and therefore Seychellois should be fair to them and not only search for their weaknesses. Fairness and gratitude is also a virtue of democracy and the strength upon which a nation is built. In the case of James Mancham as the first President, though regarded as a playboy during his younger days in politics, no one can dispute the fact that he was a pioneer of t...

This week we look at the long interview with President Danny Faure in the daily newspapers of our little country. Interesting as he said a lot without saying anything. A sweet election will be our next election. Finally Seychelles will have the taste of our very first sweet election. My mouth waters thinking of the sweetness. Could sweetness mean a FAURE / RAMKALAWAN Team? Many are speculating and this could well be the next step to the cohabitation. Some are not waiting but running fast to claim their share of the cake, not corruption at all, God forbid to be even thinking that. A new quarry is coming and guess what a very prominent MNA will join forces with a Senior Civil Servant who moves well on question of land. Government land and no tender? Impossible you will all say, but fait accompli for this special ‘under the table’ deal. This is what some are saying is OK.…. but is it really ? In the interview the President did speak about the judiciary, and yet he did not say he is cu...

The new “Ek nou pa ek nou” culture sweeping across the political landscape in Seychelles is a potent and fatal threat to democracy and progress.  Under the guise of “co-habitation” certain institutions and people are literally being allowed to get away with murder.  This is because of no accountability, no transparency, no responsibility and no good governance – it is corruption and it is corruption unchecked. A call as far back as last year was made to have the environment destruction at Anse Boileau halted.  It is still ongoing to this very day.  Where are the appointed custodians of our environment, and those who oversee their mandate?  When all agree that our environment is  the most important factor supporting our international popularity as a tourism destination, why do we stick our heads in the sand over the destruction of our environment.  This is corruption across the whole Executive and the National Assembly.  It is a clear demonstrati...

Recently Seychelles read with interest a long interview by a big property owner on the existing cohabitation and how good it is, others have spoken proudly about their era of cohabitation saying that all is well…. but is it really ? As the leaders are enjoying a coffee here, a discussion amongst friends and a sip of good wine or a blue label whisky at a cocktail of the powerful the Stevedore Workers took the law into their own hands and staged a strike. These brave people were tired of questions and answers at the National Assembly that continues to bring nothing for them. Even their extra payments for working on a Sunday were hush hush. They said they got tired of all the continuous talking, but see no action that will make a difference for them and their family as workers. This is what some are saying is OK. The Stevedores were followed soon after by the fishing boat owners. They wanted more as well and the Leader of the Opposition who has been in the Assembly for close to a year...

The National Assembly will cost the taxpayers 3.42 million rupees every month according to the 2018 National Budget to be proposed at the end of this month. This will include sixty thousand (60,000) rupees per month for the salary of The Speaker with an additional seventeen thousand (17,000) for constituency allowance; on top of that he has a driver, cars, fuel, bodyguards and other expenses all covered by the National Assembly. He will also get the end of year gratuity of two hundred thousand (200,000+) rupees+. The Speaker is costing the taxpayers at least two hundred and fifty (250,000) thousand rupees per month, if not more. And to top it all up at the end of his term of office another cheque for 1.7 million rupees will be deposited in his bank account. No wonder The Speaker is now importing live cows by airfreight from Kenya. This newspaper has information that Pat Pillay will bring in twenty cows from Kenya. This activity could have serious health implication for the whole co...

This is the impression that one gets when an analysis is done of the various incidents that have taken place since President Danny Faure assumed office and the LDS became the majority party in the National Assembly. There is absolutely no method to the chaos that is quickly engulfing the country. The LDS National Assembly Members have brought many problems onto themselves and the country as a whole by giving the impression that they had the answers (baton mazik) to all the malaise society have to offer. On Wednesday it was the turn of the sea cucumber fishermen to marched to the National Assembly for an audience with Honorable Ferrari; to seek guidance on how to deal with the quota system being proposed for the fishing of sea cucumber. This is the same guy who walked out on the Stevedores, because they refused to accept a deal he had negotiated with his friend Hunt Deltel for them. We are sure that Ferrari will not tell the sea cucumber fishermen that preservation makes a lot of sens...

Seychelles is closed for business This is what many foreign investors and local people in the business sector are saying as business activities slow down to a crawl and the costs of living is skyrocketing to new heights. This situation has been created due to the fact that the country has no direction and the uncertainty being generated has brought with it a chaotic condition. The fact that we have three Presidents makes the situation that much worse. We have the Head of State at State House, the Speaker of the National Assembly, who believes that State House is his rightful place and the Honorable Leader of Opposition, who is saying that his time has come. They are all jostling for position on a daily basis and competing aggressively for exposure, which is causing a lot of confusion amongst the ordinary folks; “when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”, an old African proverb, meaning that the weak get hurt in conflicts between the powerful in the cohabitation. This...

Former Seychelles President James Alix Michel has addressed the 6th South China Sea Conference which is taking place in Malaysia under the theme “Forging a shared future in the South china Sea”, in conjunction with the Malaysia International Marine Expo (MIMEX) 2017 at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur. Former Seychelles President James Alix Michel highlighted the importance of ocean governance – noting that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is a key consideration. “Whilst it has its inherent weaknesses – among them, the absence of a universally-accepted framework for the governance of the high seas – it does provide us with an international and institutional framework for ocean governance. We can improve on it. We need to show goodwill and demonstrate political will and statesmanship. This is the only way forward. Governance of our oceans demands this of us. It demands dialogue and cooperation,” said President Michel Mr. Michel also spoke ab...

 Malulu has lost it completely The response to the heroin epidemic presently ravaging the country was, last week, thrown in disarray culminating in an organized protest at the National Assembly by a dozen of drug addicts. This newspaper has learned that the ten addicts were instigated by a known person from Les Mamelles on the behest of her doctor friend to stage the demonstration in a bid to undermine the new programme against drugs developed and being implemented by the Secretary of State for the Prevention of Drug Abuse and Rehabilitation, Doctor. Patrick Herminie. The latter’s programme, based on the Minnesota model, has as its ultimate objective the reintegration of the addicts in the workforce. This has not gone down well with certain elements within the Ministry of Health who over the last decade had overseen a chaotic methadone programme with no clear goal. The end result of this ill-advised strategy is here for all of us to see; today the number of heroin addicts has...

The state of our democracy was the subject of a debate on SBC TV last week. The debate was no doubt initiated to mark one year since the opposition won its first election since the return of multi-party democracy in Seychelles. On the other hand, Parti Lepep, the political party presently in power, registered its first defeat. Following the landmark event, some people have been misled into interpreting freedom of expression as meaning they can do whatever they please and say whatever they want regardless of their effects on others.  Living a good democracy requires a lot more than that.  Such cannot be the benchmark by which the health of our democracy is measured. If it is, then we are in big trouble.  Our country is falling even further backwards than it was before the opposition won its first election victory in 2016. A democracy cannot be regarded as healthy if what takes place within the country after an election victory does not bring any sort of progress. One p...

The abbreviation WBC is supposed to mean “World Boxing Council” in international terms. It is the body which regulates all issues concerning the sport of boxing. Here in Seychelles we have a new meaning for it which has nothing to do with the combat sport at all. Locally the definition of WBC is “Wavel Broadcasting Corporation”. Since LDS won the National Assembly Elections last year, WBC has replaced the “Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation” (SBC). Wavel Ramkalawan wanted an independent SBC and he has got it. But its independence must benefit him and no one else.  Lately he has been given the license to constantly go on the airwaves and spread his doctrines of persecution and revenge. As the Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of the “Finance and Public Accounts Committee” (FPAC), he gets more than enough time to make known his views in the National Assembly, but he still wants more. The Seychellois public in general has had enough of him. Everything around him must have cover...