President Michel Promised Investigation Of Corruption In The Civil Service?

Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly in its pages speaks for a majority of law-abiding Seychellois when it asks the question why the government and the state-media make no reference to the loss of US$ 4.5 million to a bogus construction company in Dubai by a high-ranking civil servant and also a member of the SPPF central committee..  The silence points to a conspiracy in the highest offices in the land.  This gives rise to the question;            

“What have the government got to hide? It is a sign of guilt; they are keeping quiet hoping the people will forget about it.”  

The uncomfortable answer is that guilt, for SPPF appointed civil servants, is a relative concept.  The investigation does not proceed not only because these officials want to stay out of jail or not only because they still harbor political ambitions, but also because of the firm belief that the apparatus of the state has been abused to target some individuals and pass over others who may be “more guilty”.

Ranked amongst the latter are the non-transparency in Armed Forces financing, including the armed forces projects contracts, including housing, fuel consumption by non-army persons, allowances for senior officers etc. etc., the loss of SR. 14,000,000 (14 million) as part of a tourism development project at State House, the non-deliverance of the e-government project costing over SR. 25,000,000, (25 million) and various incomplete housing projects, the Social Security Building to house a hotel in Central Victoria, Independent audits of parastatals, the Seychelles passports for cash schemes, etc. etc. losses within the judiciary, police and other Government Ministries and Departments.

These points have not been made very well -- for a number of reasons:

Firstly: getting around the playground morality of “two wrongs don’t make a right” requires communication skills that many SPPF-appointed civil servants do not seem to possess.  The State-owned media is a political tool for those in power and its manipulation is for their protection and benefit only.  Those not “within the loop” (pa ek nou) falls on the receiving end of victimization, public humiliation and psychological torment if they decide to break the silence.

Secondly: SPPF-appointed civil servant supporters and their detractors in the SPPF have arguably also attempted to use state institutions to fight their battles, lending a hollow ring to President’s Michel’s promise to be a President of all Seychelles and to be at the forefront in the fight against corruption.

Thirdly: our law insulates the decisions to investigate and prosecute from all but the most expensive legal oversight; and information about why certain matters are not pursued or prosecuted is almost impossible to come by.  There is no office with a clear mandate to investigate and report upon these wrongdoings or pursue those harboring wrongdoers.

Fourthly: to properly make the point that others are guiltier requires, firstly, an admission of guilt and, secondly, a comprehensive pointing of fingers that would commit the cardinal sin of bringing the SPPF into massive disrepute. Such a strategy requires the approach of a political suicide bomber -- a role currently ruled out by corrupt SPPF-appointed civil servants, ambitions and egotisms.

But just because the corrupt civil servants have a poor spokesman for their cause does not mean we should ignore it.  Throughout its existence whenever the SPPF encountered crises, it demonstrates some traces of improvement, tempting people to develop illusions about the SPPF.  Without exception, the illusions are shattered time and again.  Milestones under the Solid Waste Management Contract have not been achieved.  Nothing is being done.  The waste management system is in disarray.  No attempts are being made to discover the bearer of the responsibility and accountability for this fiasco. 

Further evidence is apparent in the Education, Construction, Medical, Transport and the Food and Beverage sectors. In Education there is a serious shortage of teachers and teaching resources.  The illusions given by  President Michel is that each child will be given individual access to a computer by 2017.  At present the children are streamed only according to social groups to save on resources.  Within the construction industry the continued shortage of raw materials: cement, timber, construction metals and roofing has seen the prices of these items go through the roof.  Despite repeated promises by SMB, holders of a government-given imports and exports monopoly, the situation is not getting any better.  This is not to the benefit of the ordinary man in the street.  It is to the benefit of SPPF-appointed individuals.  The negotiations and selling of the SMB and its eventual closure is a state secret.  These again indicate dealings that are not to the benefit and long-term interest of the ordinary Seychellois citizen.

May 4, 2007
Copyright 2007: Seychelles Weekly, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles