HOW THE MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS HELPS SPPF TO WIN ELECTIONS

The antics of one District Administrator (DA) before and on the day of the elections demonstrates very vividly how the SPPF is using and abusing the machinery of government in order to win elections. This story is about the DA of the District or electoral area of Roche Caiman.

The current DA of Roche Caiman is Mr Wilbert Omath. Mr Omath considers himself an agent of the party, the SPPF and his job is to assist the SPPF candidate to win the lection. Consequently, Omath did not hesitate to hire a car, and to carry voters to the poling station to entice them to vote for the SPPF candidate. As DA, Omath knows everyone in his district as well as all their problems. Anyone living in the Roche Caiman District who wants a job in the public sector must first be vetted by Omath as to his or her political eligibility. The SPPF candidate also had a private office in the building occupied by the DA, which makes Omath her virtual political assistant. So much so that the SPPF candidate even nominated Omath to be her counting agent to witness the counting of the votes.

Roche Caiman is a government built housing estate on part of the reclamation financed by the World Bank in the late eighties. The money to build the first houses was borrowed from the European Union and the contractor was an Irish based concern with experience building housing units in the desert of Arabia for expatriates. The architecture of the houses for Roche Caiman, though alien to our tropical environment, was accepted because it meant all the houses could be build in a short space of time. The World Bank loan was only repaid last year after many years in arrears, while the EU loan is in serious default.

The housing estate, though still only a construction sight, was trumpeted as a sign of the future under SPPF  if they were to win the elections. Although 800 or so units were being built, more than 3000 people submitted application. The political imperative behind the choice of architecture for the house at Roche Caiman was the first Presidential and National Assembly elections in 1993 following the adoption of the new Constitution after a referendum.  A second phase of construction was started to coincide with the 2001/2 elections, this time  financed and built by the Chinese Government. When the President of China visited Seychelles earlier this year he was taken to one of the houses to meet its occupants.

Mrs jovana Charles, representative for Roche Caiman.

Roche Caiman became a District under the Elections Act after the boundary review prior to the 1998 elections. It was carved out of the old Les Mamelles and Plaisance District in order to create the minimum voters necessary to justify its creation. Ever since it became an electoral area it has elected Mrs Jovana Charles as it MNA.

Like every district or electoral area, Roche Caiman also has its DA although it did not have an office to house him. This is still being built together with the district’s social centre on land which was previously a playing field. As a result, the DA has to share a building with the DA of neighbouring Plaisance. Ironically, the DA of Plaisance occupies an office which is situated in the Roche Caiman electoral area which is within walking distance of the whole electoral area of Roche Camain.

The DA is an employee of the Ministry of Local Government, therefore, a fully fledged civil servant. Since the one-party state civil servants are being employed by ministerial recommendations or by the President at their absolute discretion. Unlike other democratic countries, there is neither an independent Civil Service Commission nor an independent arrangement to ensure that civil servants operate independently of the party in government, unlike Ministers, which according to the Constitution has political responsibility in the ministry.

The role of civil servants in politics under the SPPF regime since the multiparty system was introduced has been raised in a number of reports by international election observers. It is evident that SPPF has no intention of de-linking the party form the state. The role played by Wilbert Omath, the DA of Roche Caiman District in campaigning, ferrying voters and even representing the SPPF candidate inside the polling booth during the lection is not an isolated incident. The ruling party has constantly broken every rules, commitment or understanding in a bid to win power at all costs.

May 18, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles