SEYCHELLES REALITY

  Wavel Ramkalawan’s recent visit to the United States for President Biden’s US-Africa Leaders Summit last week left people with more questions than answers. Although ostensibly joining other leaders from across the African continent for a summit meant to focus on civil society, business, diaspora and youth leadership, one could not help but wonder whether or not the administration had other hopes for the visit. Seychelles, as is the case with quite a few other African nations, has been falling victim to Russian influence. The ongoing war in Ukraine has seen the Russian Federation increasingly isolated globally and looking for allies across the world susceptible to their narrative. Seychelles, under the leadership of Ramkalawan, is a particularly ripe potential ally, considering the central role that Seychelles has played and continues to play in providing offshore accounts to circumvent tax or sanctions, laundering money and facilitating extensive illicit activities. Ramkalawan ha...

  The story which one would have anticipated to be making waves recently in Seychelles is the surprising banning of the Seychelles Independent News (SIN) from presidential press conferences by   Wavel Ramkalawan . Claiming, quite strangely, that the country was “moving towards a more serious media”, the President took the decision to ban the publication from press conferences on the basis of the claim that they were publishing defamatory material about his administration. The move was strongly criticised by the Association of Media Practitioners Seychelles (AMPS), who condemned the President’s “ostracising” of the Seychelles Independent and sought to engage with the Statehouse on the issue to no avail. Strangely, despite the above-mentioned reasons given for the paper’s banning from presidential press conferences, the issue had never been raised with AMPS, whose responsibilities including addressing such issues among their media house members. Similarly, AMPS denied having any...

  President Ramkalawan, has for quite some time now, been overplaying the nature of the Seychelles relationship with the European Union. During a February visit to the Embassy of Seychelles in Brussels and in a meeting with European Union officials as well as EU ambassador to Seychelles, Vincent Degert, Ramkalawan made sure to, “on behalf of the government and the people of Seychelles express our appreciation for the strong partnership that exist between Seychelles and the EU”. The President similarly attempted to leverage this relationship during his recent address to the nation, where he made sure to emphasize cooperation between the European Union and Seychelles, conveniently ignoring criticism recently levied against his government’s activities in the human rights field. Of course recent developments in Seychelles have been followed closely by European Union officials, as well as international human rights organizations. All have expressed their concerns over the direction in w...

  The right of a defendant to legal representation is one of the most basic aspects of international justice. No matter how horrific the crime, every person accused of committing a crime is entitled to having their case heard with the help of an attorney in a court of law. This seems to be true everywhere but in Seychelles, where the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACCS), under the leadership of May De Silva, has been denying the Valabhji couple, defendants in the case sinisterly named “Operation Black Iron” their right to legal representation. Of course, the ACCS, and the foreign lawyers which they have employed throughout the course of the trial, such as barristers Michael Skelley & Ed Vickers of London’s Red Lion Chambers, are far too proficient in the technical aspects of the law to directly deny defendants legal representation. Especially in a trial that has been so heavily covered in the international press. Rather they have come up with an intelligent way of doing so while m...

  President Ramkalawan’s recent address to the nation, delivered on October 20th, was one of his most daring. Facing one of the toughest years of his political career, with the country undergoing a cost-of-living crisis, increasing crime, and facing severe domestic criticism surrounding the country’s ongoing politically motivated trial, his speech was an obvious attempt at deflecting criticism. His first all too obvious attempt at doing this was seen through his promise to raise salaries. Although marketed as an attempt to address his own government’s failures to combat spiralling prices, this strategic decision was obviously aimed at the addressing criticism surrounding severe instances of corruption discovered in his cabinet. Most recently this even included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ronny Govinden, who was accused of acquiring properties below market value and selling them at extreme profits. Raising salaries in a country suffering from flawed economic policy as wel...

  Recent developments in the prosecution trial against Mukesh and Laura Valabhji have quite a few people concerned. It appears that the government is, yet again, working to cover up its own illegal activities. The case of the 50 million never ceases to surprise, and has included, so far, allegations of government corruption, human rights violations and absolutely no respect for the rule of law. Most recently, the Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronny Govinden ordered that a visit to the Valabhji’s property be allowed. It is indeed not standard procedure to prevent access to a defendant’s property, no matter how high level the trial in question is. It appears that despite the court order given by the Chief Justice, the government thought it appropriate to intervene and to deny access to the property. Why this happened is not entirely clear. Of course the government has not rejected the request outright. They are too cunning for that. Instead, it has delayed the visit under the pretext t...

  There are some things that no longer come as a surprise to anyone. One of those is the ability of those in power to do everything and anything possible to cling to power. Such was the case with the   recent appointment   of the former Commander of the Seychelles Coast Guard, Colonel Jean Attala, as the new Chief of Staff of the Seychelles People’s Defence Force (SPDF). Despite the fact that its name suggests that its purpose is to protect the interests of the people, President Wavel Ramkalawan has once again proven that the sole purpose of the military is to uphold his own personal interests. The long history of the Seychelles with political instability, means that the most important component of staying in power is ensuring a loyal military. And that is exactly what the President has done, filling the most senior ranks of the armed forces with loyalists. This appointment follows a recent constitutional  amendment  according to which the government extended th...

  The nostalgia with which many reflect on Britain’s colonial legacies is not surprising. Tony Blair famously   stated   in a 1997 speech, “I value and honour our history enormously,” and that the country’s history of empire should be the cause of “neither apology nor hand-wringing”. The post-Brexit world has only encouraged this sentiment, which seeks to reinvigorate the spirit which once allowed Britain to rule more than half the world. Although the empire that is seen by many as a product of the British state, an often overlooked aspect of Britain’s successful domination of the globe is the role of laissez-faire capitalism, outsourcing and  public-private partnerships . The most well-known of these in the British context was the English East India Company, which by 1800 commanded a force larger than that of England. Ruling approximately one fifth of the world, philosopher Edmund Burke famously  referred  to this as, “a state in the disguise of a merchant...

  Corruption in countries like the Seychelles has become something which people unfortunately accept as a given. When there is little oversight, those that are in power take advantage. That doesn’t make it okay but it is expected. What people don’t anticipate is the extent to which those in power will go in order to shamelessly promote their own interests at the peoples’ expense. Such was the case in a recent expose published by The People, according to which Chief Justice of the Seychelles Supreme Court Ronny Govinden, took advantage of his position of power and proximity to the Seychelles leadership in order to acquire for himself a property portfolio unrivalled by many in the country. At first glance there is nothing wrong with acquiring properties. If you have the money and would like to invest in an extensive property portfolio, then of course it is your right. A problem arises however, when the price paid for the property is significantly below market value, raising questions...

  Factual errors continue to riddle one of the most high-profile cases Seychelles has ever seen. In an exclusive report, on the basis of confidential information overheard in the halls of the Seychelles Ministry of Justice in Victoria, more questions are unfortunately raised than answer. One thing is certain however, and that is that the prosecution in the case of the “missing 50 million US dollars” have not been completely upfront with the public, and their own evidence proves it. For those unfamiliar, the saga begins with 50 million dollars donated by the government of the United Arab Emirates to Seychelles at a time when it was struggling to keep on the lights. Faced with a financial crisis in 2002, the money was meant to help pay outstanding balances to major creditors. In a surprising twist, allegations were raised that the funds were misappropriated; several government investigations occurred over the years, but no arrests were made until after the election of Wavel Ramkalawa...

  The role which Russia has and continues to play in shaping political events around the world through campaign financing has been in the headlines recently. With Putin’s regime accused of trying to influence the past two rounds of  American elections , Russian efforts in the western world are well known. What many are less familiar with are Russian attempts to shape election outcomes in the developing world, particularly in places that it assesses as important for its own tactical and strategic interests. According to a  recent review  conducted by American intelligence officials, Russia has, since 2014, invested over $300 million in such efforts. In many cases, such efforts take the shape of covert support, including  spreading fake news  against candidates which Russia deems to not serve its interests. In other cases, the support comes in the form of hard cash provided to a candidate with the aim of strengthening their election prospects. A recent New Yo...