Do Not Trust FoolsPeople of Seychelles, with the recent country down grade to “SD” default status by Standard and Poor’s in London, the message the international financial community is sending to Seychelles today is simple: “Do Not Trust Fools” to handle our affairs of State and manage our economy. The message could not be any simpler than that. Every Seychellois should read below.
Remember The Press CONFERENCE After Papal Visit
Do you remember well, Mr. President’s Press conference after he was granted an audience with the Pope? In that meeting he gave the Pope a coconut box and upon arrival at the VIP lounge in Seychelles he fed us a giant lie. Mr. President said that he was happy to announce that his Administration had just paid off all our external debt obligations. What he had in fact done was secure a Junk Bond from Lehman Brothers to the value of $245 Million. He took some of that money and paid African Development Bank (ADB) arrears accumulated over the years.
The interest on that Bond was an astronomical 9.5%. The Bond note was to be due in five (5) years, but having failed to pay the principal, SPPF Government could roll the debt for another five (5) years. That would have rolled the debt well after the next General Election in 2010 or even 2011. It sounded like a good plan, albeit very expensive. But what happened?
According to Standard and Poor’s, SPPF did not even pay the interest on the Bond as of July 1st, 2008. They basically just stole the money from Lehman’s. Hence, today, while our children make us proud in the CJSOI games, SPPF destroys our credibility on the international financial markets. Today, as SPPF defaults on a 54.75 Million Euro Bond, our country Credit Rating is in the dumps.
Things will only get worse, Mr. Presidents’ grand lies and politics of deception are now coming back to haunt him. Who is vilifying Seychelles today? It is SPPF the two headed beast, no one else. Their tool of choice is the politics of deception to fool us. But I say this to you People of Seychelles; do not trust fools to run our affairs. When we do, we pay a “fools’ price” for their mistakes. The dream is over, SPPF!
SPPF Try To Run and Hide
The SPPF Government, being the dead-beat debtors they are, claimed not to have paid either interest or principal on the 54.75 Million Euro Junk Bond because of undisclosed irregularities in the issuing process of the Bonds back in 2006. After SPPF has spent all the money, they basically are now saying that Lehman Brothers did not follow proper procedure in issuing the money they had already spent.
If ever there is a fool in the Universe, it is the man that tries to fool his banker into saying “you did not give me the money properly, so I don’t owe you anything”. A fool in charge of our finances will make us all feel foolish. Because SPPF has taken this “Devil Dead-Beat Debtor” posture with a reputed international financial house, we will pay for their foolishness.
Now, Lehman Brothers has indicated that they will now accelerate the Junk Bond issued in 2006 because SPPF has failed to pay even the interest. This means they want all the money back now plus Interest in one go.
The foolish strategy of running and hiding from our bankers will not work. The World is too small these days. Now, SPPF must look to the underworld to bail them out. IMF will not be in a hurry to help such a derelict regime. They will take their sweet time to make sure all “Reports” and all documents are in order before bailing SPPF out of this financial mess they have placed the People of Seychelles in today.
When IMF gives us food and fuel money and bill money they will also be placing metal chains and balls around SPPF’s ankles. People of Seychelles prepare yourself now at this moment, for there are very difficult times ahead as we pay for SPPF’s failure.
Standard &Poor's Questions SPPF Management
While the SNP Opposition went to sleep for two years at a very critical time for Seychelles, and filled their bellies with big fat salaries, while Seychellois suffered at the hands of SPPF, this Column has been calling SPPF to task its gross mismanagement of our financial affairs and affairs of state every week, without fail. Single-handedly this Column, in cooperation with Weekly, has done all the homework for an Opposition gone to sleep, snoring in a slumber, oblivious to the imminent economic catastrophe and resigned to self enrichment. They could not even ask the Speaker to summon the National Assembly to question the Minster of Finance about the fiasco unravelling before our very own eyes. And they have the cheek to call themselves Opposition. Opposition to what? They walk up to State House to see what they can get for themselves, forgetting about the People. SPPF has hijacked the Opposition to stay calm in dangerous financial seas ahead for Seychelles through ear-to-ear dialogue with Mr. Ramkalawan and corresponding promises to allow him to “take advantage of opportunities ahead” as he said in his last SNP Convention before breaking DP-SNP Alliance. There are no opportunities with SPPF, silly!
In the Country Report downgrade of Seychelles, Standard and Poor’s place into question SPPF Government’s ability to manage the fiscal financial affairs of the Seychelles, as this Column has done every week, as Weekly sold out week after week after week. The other papers gather dust on the shop shelves. Standard and Poor’s have good reason to question the SPPF’s ability to manage our finances.
People of Seychelles, open your eyes; when a Government uses public coffers as a private slush account to enrich its individual Princes, Princesses, Kings and Queens, what do you think will happen? Our money will be wiped out over time. Those doing the wiping out will end up being richer than even the Country they live in. Today, in Seychelles, this is happening right now before our very eyes. It can happen even more easily than you imagine when the main Opposition also goes to sleep and bores us to death with “capacity building with SPPF”.
You, SNP supporters, all 700 of you left in Mont Fleuri, open your eyes. Your leaders talk a good talk when they see you, but after they leave you, you are left to the side of the gutter to find your way home. They offer no vision on moving Seychelles forward for you, because they do not know what is wrong with Seychelles.
SNP just read Weekly and repeat whatever is said in it like a parrot the following week in the National Assembly. This being the case, Mr. Leader of Opposition is not a serious alternative to SPPF today; he is a serious excuse to SPPF staying in power indefinitely in spite of their actions vilifying Seychelles on the international financial markets and giving Seychelles a bad name. As such, he becomes an obstacle to our betterment. for we cannot rid SPPF with a lame Leader.
Instead of calling SPPF to task and making them accountable, he writes in Regar recently, “Making Sense of Our Rupee”, that we need a national debate on our Rupee. Let me save the Leader of the Opposition’s brain power. We have been debating on our Rupee for 17 years. Your Rupee, which you obtained a 35% increase in salary and forgot about your People, is worthless. The next time State House asks you to write something about your Rupee and propose a National debate, do us a favor and go whistle at a girly. You don’t have to stress your brain over the matter anymore, and today dream of the good old days, they are gone, wake up, smell the dead fish around you, Leader of Opposition.
Instead of calling for another National debate and asking that we be included in the devaluation discussions and IMF plans with SPPF, why don’t you dear Leader come up with a Plan for regime change and execute it? The answer is simple: the handle of the frying pan is too hot for you, so you ask for a “little debate” to justify your fat salary and gross perks, while Seychellois suffer the fate of your failure to lead. “Lanmans Pwalon I So!” you say. Why don’t you get out of the kitchen, dear Leader, I say.
One thing I learn reading those enabling books that sell for $2.00 paperback, losers all have excuses for everything under the sun.
People of Seychelles, we must not ever again put our faith in fools, regardless of which political color we may be from, we are all Seychellois and we all deserve better than what SPPF is dishing out for us. “Nou Pa Ti Devret Koumsa Ozordi!”
May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois!