In his much lauded State of the Nation Address President Michel promised to set-up the necessary institutions to deal with corruption. The problem with the current administration is its lack of capability, capacity, and political will to do away with the institutional mechanisms that give rise to conflicts of interest or perceived conflict of interest situations. It is unethical and unprofessional to ignore situations that give rise to conflict of interest.
Conflicts of interest are situations in which a person’s or an institution’s objectivity, ethics, or responsibility is compromised or appear to be compromised by a “competing financial, personal, or political obligation, gain, desire, loyalty, or bias”. These are the same avenues that in turn give rise to corruption. In fact corruption and conflict of interest feed off each other.
President Michel is in the perfect position to answer on his success in dealing with these situations. At present he is failing miserably. Most of the supposedly independent institutions are peopled with representations falling within the above definition.
President Michel knows well that Seychelles is currently a signatory to the following protocols against corruption: The SADC Protocol, The AU and UN Conventions. Of these three
Under the SADC Protocol there are specific acts of corruption that are prohibited these are:
• Passive corruption committed by a public official
• Active corruption committed by a public official
• Act by public official or other employee for purpose of obtaining undue benefit
• Diversion of property by a public official
• Active or passive corruption by person working in private sector
• Improper influencing of any person in public or private sector relating to such person’s decision-making functions
• Fraudulent use or concealment of property derived from acts of corruption
• Participation as a principal, co-principal, agent, instigator, accomplice or accessory after the fact
Under the AU and UN conventions the acts of corruption prohibited are:
• Illicit enrichment
• Funding of political parties
•Embezzlement, misappropriation or other diversion of property by a Public official
• Obstruction of Justice
Within the current framework there is no form of independence between the three arms of social governance. President Michel cannot and will not take any measures that cut into the power structure that keeps his position intact as President.