Media commission, Nisa chief executives appointed |02 February 2018
Messrs Govinden (2nd left) and Afif (4th left) in a souvenir photograph with President Faure, Vice-President Vincent Meriton and Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon after they had been presented with their instruments of appointment
Ibrahim Afif is the chief executive of the Seychelles Media Commission and Gerard Govinden is the chief executive of the National Information Services Agency.
They both received their instruments of appointment yesterday morning from President Danny Faure during a short ceremony held at State House.
Mr Afif was the consultant who set up the Seychelles Media Commission (SMC) and eventually became its chairman and chief executive (CEO) in 2011 until 2018 after the SMC Act was amended.
He was appointed by the president after consultation with the speaker of the National Assembly and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
He is an accomplished and well-known media professional who started his career in 1977 as a programmes officer at Radio Seychelles. Soon after television was launched in the country he was promoted to controller of television at Radio Television Seychelles (RTS). A post he held until 1985 when he was moved to the Seychelles Polytechnic to head the School of Media Studies at Forêt Noire. He returned to RTS in 1988 as assistant director of news for radio and television.
In 1992, Mr Afif became the first managing director (MD) of the newly created Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). He was instrumental in the transformation of the public broadcasting service at a time when Seychelles was moving from a one party to a multi-party system.
He also brought the SBC into the digital age by planning and implementing the first internet and intranet network at the corporation. Among his other achievements Mr Afif launched the first FM radio station, Paradise FM, and brought free-to-air TV5 channel to our viewers. He held the post until 2011 when he was asked to resign.
Mr Govinden was appointed CEO of the National Information Services Agency (Nisa) by the president as per Section 10 of the NISA Act 2010.
He started his career in the media as a reporter with the Seychelles NATION newspaper in 1992 and had been the acting CEO of Nisa since September last year.
Mr Govinden holds a Bachelor’s degree in French Writing and Translation from the University of Sherbrooke City in Québec, Canada and a Masters in Leadership and Strategic Management.
In 2013, he was promoted to chief editor of the Seychelles NATION. A year later he was appointed deputy CEO of Nisa, which is the agency responsible for printing the Seychelles NATION newspaper.
Mr Govinden has produced various publications for international sporting events in which Seychelles took part, notably the 18th Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, All-Africa Games and the Indian Ocean Island Games.
Among his publications is a 150-page commemorative book to celebrate 25 years of the Seychelles National Olympic Committee. He also collaborated with fellow journalists in La Réunion to produce a book entitled Journalismes dans l’Océan Indien : Espaces publics en questions.
In 2004 he was awarded the Camerapix Mohamed Amin Award for outstanding contribution in the field of media and for Excellence in Journalism. He also won the International Olympic Committee trophy for Sports and Media in the same year.
Mr Afif said he is very happy to have received the opportunity to accomplish the tasks ahead.
“Thinking back I realised that there are a lot of things we could have achieved and the political landscape now is far more interesting with more media houses around so I think it was important for us to be able to have some achievements that would be tangible and I thought I would give it a shot before I take retirement,” he said.
He said they will meet all the media houses and talk about previous issues and try to get them on board to do the things in the way that is professional and proper.
“It is not our intention to harass any media house. We do not want to be seen as a bulldog set loose on the press as we would like Seychelles’ ranking in the press index to go higher, so everybody has to play their role,” he said.
Mr Govinden said hard work pays off.
“I believe in discipline in the workplace and most of my colleagues know that I work beyond working hours and my life is work. I will take on this new role with all its challenges as the journalism world has changed in Seychelles and we need to see how we can play our role,” he said.
Mr Govinden thanked his colleagues for their support throughout the years and he also thanked his late mother, father and brother for his blessings.
Also present for the ceremony at State House were Vice-President Vincent Meriton, Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, principal secretary for information Denis Rose, and members of the board of SMC and Nisa.