LAST week the Seychelles Nation and SBC simultaneously confirmed what Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly had been saying for days - that Andre Kilindo will not be prosecuted for any offence at all. This, despite the fact that his fishing boat was caught red handed with illegal Chinese migrants on board fishing sea-cucumber. Even SFA admitted that Kilindo had committed several offences under the law and cautioned that “certain measures” would be taken against him. The evidence which incriminated Kilindo was irrefutable, and SFA cited violations of the Fisheries and Agriculture Incentives Act (FIA) and the Fisheries Act 1986 simultaneously to have occurred.
The eight Chinese fishermen who were found on Ste Andre were all without valid work permits except for two. Two had visitor's permits and four had no valid permits at all at the time of arrest on the 7th April. Even then it is not clear how the two Chinese fishermen had obtained valid work permit to work on a local fishing boat within the territorial waters of
The link between Immigration and the commission of the offences cannot be ignored as well, as the Immigration department has also been accused in the past of corrupt practices. The Czech fugitive, Krejcir, is a case in point and until today the case has not been solved and nobody has been prosecuted locally. There have also been several instances of people with Seychellois passports in their possession being arrested overseas for illegal activities even though these persons have never set foot in
Kilindo, who was treated in the most lenient manner by SFA, clearly received preferential treatment because of his close connection to the ruling party. It is reported that Kilindo has admitted guilt and opted for an out of court settlement.
A system known as “compounding” was then employed by Rondolph Payet, the Managing Director of SFA, to hand Kilindo the minimum punishment possible under the law. The catch of 1588 sea cucumbers worth over R.150, 000 was confiscated as was the equipment onboard. His sea cucumber licence was revoked as well as his FIA certificate. He was made to pay a fine of R.20,000 and the cost of the operation which came to a sum of R.10,000. The payments are expected to be made by Mr. Woo, the mysterious business partner of Kilindo in this particular venture.
However, the whole exercise was said to be just a gimmick designed to placate the disgruntling Seychellois fishermen as Kilindo is expected to have his sea cucumber licence restored eventually when the dust settles.
Two questions remained unanswered though. Firstly, how was Kilindo allowed to jump the queue to obtain the much sought after sea cucumber licence ahead of everybody else? Secondly, how did Kilindo get an FIA certificate when his boat was being used only in the local sea cucumber industry? The FIA certificate is normally reserved for serious investors who come to
For a Mickey Mouse operation such as that undertaken by Kilindo to benefit from the incentives and benefits of the priceless FIA certificate in the same manner as a serious investor who invests millions of dollars into the industry is also another mystery yet to be solved.
In the year of the Constitution, which President Michel announced with much fanfare recently, violation of the spirit and letter of the Constitution continues indiscriminately in the country by the very people and institutions who are supposed to safeguard the Constitution. For instance, article 27 (1) of the Constitution provides that: “Every person has a right to equal protection of the law including the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set out in this Charter without discrimination on any ground except as is necessary in a democratic society”.
However, Kilindo seems more equal before the law than most of us mere mortals. A man who was accused of committing a similar offence as Kilindo several years ago has informed this paper that when he approached SFA for “compounding” his offences he was asked to pay R.300,000 fine. When he informed SFA that he does not have the means to pay that sum, he was prosecuted to the full extent of the law and convicted. This clearly shows that discrimination is actively practiced by SFA
However, what is more serious about this incident is the fact that the Administration of President James Alix Michel has unashamedly rallied behind Kilindo to ensure that he gets immunity from prosecution. This speaks volumes about the government of the day and it is baffling why the government has gone out of their way to protect Kilindo.
In April 2004, President Michel publicly threw the gauntlet at the people on his inauguration. He said “Judge me by my action.” However, the action of the President in not asking Kilindo to step down for embarrassing his whole government by his illegal acts and clear violation of the letter of the law says a lot about the President as well. How can the President allow his Security Advisor to continue in Office as if nothing has happened when Kilindo himself has admitted that he has broken the law by admitting guilt? President Michel should quickly distance himself from Kilindo by swiftly asking him to step down.
In fact, he should have done this a long time ago and his indecisiveness and failure to act may give rise to justifiable accusation of favouritism and discrimination being leveled at his government. Kilindo, who is in the twilight of his career anyway, is not worth protecting at all cost under the circumstances of this particular case. He is hardly a rocket scientist by any stretch of the imagination!
If the President wants to retain the integrity of his government as well as his own personal integrity, then he should sack Kilindo as his Security Advisor. It is the honourable thing to do Mr. President and we will all respect you further for doing so.