When challenged by the Leader of the Opposition during the election campaign for the National Assembly elections as to whether he had a programme for Seychelles development, James Michel publicly announced that he did. He said that the Seychelles Strategy 2017 was his programme.
In an article in the Nation, again in response to comments about Seychelles Strategy 2017 by a visiting Irish Prime Minister, President Michel said that the comments would be taken on board. He went on to say that the shortcomings in the Seychelles Strategy 2017 would be addressed to include a wider audience than has previously been involved in the consultation process.
One of the aims of the Seychelles Strategy 2017 is to double the income of every Seychellois by 2017. Given what is happening in Seychelles at present, this shows how much of an inspiration our leaders really are. Rather than giving vision to the citizens of this country, they are spreading fear and panic among the masses. The price of everything in
In the face of all this turmoil, the President has chosen to remain silent, meaning he is lost for words. As this is a crisis of his own making let us look at what has been done.
The lack of logic in the dismissals are further shown by the television appearances on Tuesday, 28 August 2007, of the Vice-President Joseph ‘Ti j” Belmont, Principal Secretary Jesse Esparon, Principal Secretary Raguin and Minister Shamlaye, who all give testimony to the fact that the dismissals are politically motivated with no substance of government restructuring for improved efficiency. Look at the essence of what each had to say:
Vice-President Belmont, being in charge of Administration and Public Organization, said that the restructuring of posts were part of the process of out-sourcing of government services to the private sector. A concrete example he gave was that of IT services. A television clip of the processing of passports was shown as an example. A senior member of the Immigration Division was dismissed and then re-employed, given the gravity of the dismissal upon the Division. The same happened at the Port Authority. A senior member of staff was dismissed and had to be re-employed given the repercussions upon the standing of the organization.
Numerous other cases involving dismissals of senior members of government organizations abound. VP Belmont says that it is part of out-sourcing. This is a lie!
The complexities of service deliveries throughout sourcing IT services are well documented in the Government of Seychelles history. Going back down the wrong road shows us that Vice-President Belmont is the one who should be out-sourced. Next, we look at Principal Secretary Jesse Esparon. Her contribution to this charade is that proper procedures are being followed with respect to the dismissals. Again this is a lie and she should stop taking real Seychellois for fools. She says that applications for down-grading, abolishing or upgrading of the posts have to be followed in respect of the restructuring. Each case is dealt on its merit.
Looking at the examples given above the following questions have not been answered:
(1) How can someone be dismissed from a senior position based on a recommendation from the organization that person works in? The performance criteria for these post encompasse a far-wider scope than envisaged by the particular organization; look at the Division of Immigration, the Ministry of Land Use and Habitat, the Seychelles Bureau of Standards, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment – staff being dismissed have cost the country millions in terms of investment, training and resources. The Human Resources Development Council should have answers for the strategy behind the dismissals.
(2) Restructuring involves setting up new goals and objectives. It involves detailed benchmarks for the organization, time periods for achieving these revamped objectives, costs benefit analyses have to be produced. This would be available for scrutiny if the process was correct. In these cases the process is political victimization and Jesse Esparon is the hired gun to defend these immoral and inhuman actions of the SPPF dictatorship.
Principal Secretary Raguin in his view comes out to say that these people will not be abandoned! All efforts will be taken to ensure their redeployment in the private sector. This again shows that the reasons behind the dismissal are not clear and logical. You dismiss a person from work and then promise him/her a job in the near future! Is this called good planning or another version of “nwape get landan”! The SPPF have been using this tactic ever since they illegally grabbed power in 1977. A leopard cannot change its spots and the SPPF’s action 31 years down the line proves that.
Last in this political charade is Minister Shamlaye. His response to restructuring was for better use of available resources. He has at his disposal a strategic planning unit that has been in existence for two years in his own words. They have been plotting the direction that education must take. Another division he has at his disposal is the Seychelles Qualification Authority. This board has also been in existence for sometime. What comes across is that it would appear that the restructuring is a culmination of immense work undertaken by these strategy-developing bodies. Our question to Minister Shamlaye therefore, is how come all of a sudden these decisions are being implemented. Why the haste, if not only for political expediency?
To these mercenaries of victimization, back-stabbing and political short-sightedness, a post-mortem on their actions will be done sooner or later. Le Nouveau