In one of the most blatant act of surrender and defeat, President Michel is set to appoint three Irish personnel to assist the Commissioner of Police to do the job that the President appointed the Commissioner to do in the first place. There is general consensus that the Commissioner of Police is not competent to discharge the function that he was originally tasked to perform. Under the watch of Compol, crime figures in Seychelles have soared and 2007 is set to be the worst year on record for murders and killings in paradise, including the biggest haul of heroin found by accident; putting a strain on the already fragile tourism industry. It is now abundantly clear that the Commissioner of Police lacks the acumen and ability to discharge the function that the job entails and the sooner the President relieves him of this burden the better it would be for the whole country. The Commissioner was known to be a good soldier behind the barracks but he is proof, if proof was ever needed, that a military man does not always make a good policeman. Many questioned the wisdom of President Michel when he made the appointment initially. These critics, it is sad to say, have been proven right.
It is for this reason that the Police Force has now got itself in the business of importing foreign labour. The Irish will soon descend on the Commissioner’s office to take charge of a demoralise and lackluster police force. This will give Compol a well deserved break to re-assess his position and maybe tender his resignation thereafter to save the President the embarrassment of forcing it upon him. The Irish will each be paid 6000 euros per month as salary, and will get a house, transport and other benefits as complimentary. If this is indeed true, it will prove once and for all that the President has accepted defeat and succumb to public opinion to seek foreign assistance to straighten an already crooked police force. Rules and regulations are being made at a whim in the police force and each new rule and regulation makes things even worse than it was before. The new officers are good apples who subsequently get mixed with a basket of bad apples and become tainted after. People like Assistant Commissioner Quatre, who has spent a lifetime in the police force and has amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience ought to be seriously considered as the next Commissioner of Police if Compol is minded to step down. He will do the job up to standard for far less than what we will be paying the foreigners. People like recently retired Mr. Andre Valmont, plus others sacked previously for political reasons, can be hired on a part-time basis to provide expert advice to the force. The only problem is that people in high office must start trusting and listening to our local experts even if it is not what they wanted to hear. “We need to start thinking outside the box”, President Michel said during his address to the CEOs recently. It is high time we start practicing what we preach, paying lip service to the problems will get us nowhere, only actions will!