On Wednesday this week, President Michel and Vice-President Faure visited La Digue for a political meeting with their party’s activists. That meeting was held at L’Union Estate, and most of those attending were dressed in red, a clear indication of the nature of the gathering. The speeches delivered by the leaders also pointed to the fact that it was a party mobilisation activity.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that except for one reason. Those two leaders went to La Digue each in a coastguard patrol boat, escorted by a third. The activity was held at L’Union Estate which is a government property usually not rented out to the public, but reserved for national activities.
The question therefore is: Who paid for an activity organised by Parti Lepep? How much did it cost to bring those leaders across? How much of your money and went into one presidential candidate’s campaign?
The same question can be asked of President Michel abusing other state resources such as the SBC to promote himself. Who, or which authority in the country has the mandate to take our leaders to task when such obvious abuses are done?
I believe this is a question that we need to address as a nation in order to ensure that state resources do not become the realm of one man or one party. State resources, as the term implies, have to be used for the benefit of the whole nation and never to promote an individual or a political organisation.
When I visit Praslin or La Digue, I do not have access to state transport to take me there. If it is to be made available to one candidate, it follows that all should receive the same. The important point however is to make the distinction between what can be considered an activity in line with Mr. Michel’s role as President as compared to when he is carrying out a purely party political activity. These two have to be differentiated and dealt with accordingly.
The main reason why I object to mixing the two is simply that when state resources are abused in such ways, it is a form of corruption. The definition covers any activity where money is not used properly, but rather for someone’s advantage. We have all been encouraged to stand firm against that evil. In fact the message on the Ethics Commission’s desk calendar for January calls on everyone to add his voice against corruption. Yet those who are supposed to lead the way give us examples that point the other way.
The trip to La Digue must have easily cost the tax-payer over R50,000. Yet the same government, through a new set of Public Service Orders, has just outlined abuses that will not be tolerated. The wasting of state resources is considered a grave offence. Are these leaders really serious?
Let us take for example a simple worker who can be taken to task for making a couple of private calls during working hours. Is it fair to punish that simple worker when his ultimate bosses are abusing in the thousands of rupees in just one trip? Surely there is something that is wrong somewhere. This reminds me of a popular saying here in Seychelles used to describe corruption. ‘If you steal millions and you are a boss, you get promoted; if you steal peanuts and you are an ordinary worker, you go to jail!’
Our country needs to build up the necessary mechanisms that will ensure that even when someone is the President, he still has to respect rules and regulations. There needs to be an independent body to which such blatant abuses can be reported and corrected. The National Assembly should play that role, but unfortunately, under the present system, this is out of the question. The other body that can now exercise such oversight is the Ethics Commission. The question is: Will it do so?
During the coming months we will see more of such abuses. It is sad that when the present government talks of a change of ‘mindset’, they fail to realise that the biggest change that needs to happen is right up there at State House. Start with the head itself, and you will see the marvels that happen with the body.
Our country has limited resources and our people need to be able to enjoy these meagre resources to improve their standard of living. I hope President Michel will respect the office he holds under the Constitution and will refrain from abusing state resources during this campaign.
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