Defence and Security Committee of the National Assembly meets with President Ramkalawan |25 March 2023
The meeting between President Ramkalawan and the Defence and Security Committee of the National Assembly yesterday
The Defence and Security Committee of the National Assembly yesterday morning met with President Wavel Ramkalawan at State House.
Among the topics of discussion with the President, who is also the commander in chief of the Defence Forces, was visits to communication installations at law enforcement institutions.
The committee comprised Linyon Demokratik Seselwa (LDS) representatives Hon. Clifford Andre (chairperson), Hon. François Adelaide (vice-chairperson), Hon. Sandy Arissol and Hon. Michel Roucou (members). They were accompanied by the secretary and assistant secretary of the committee, Gillian Samson and Savrina Pirame respectively, from the National Assembly secretariat.
The meeting was also attended by Vice-President Ahmed Afif.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Hon. Andre said that visits they will undertake at the various law enforcement institutions, especially with regard to their communication systems, is to update themselves better when discussing on their budget in the National Assembly in line with the country’s defence and security.
It is the second meeting between the commander in chief of the defence forces and the committee since December 2020 when they first met.
“We apprised the President of the necessity for us to make the visits to those communication installations so as to keep ourselves updated when it comes to deliberating on the budget coming before the National Assembly, and he has given us his full support,” Hon. Andre said.
Hon. Andre noted that apart from visiting the communication installations, especially those of the police and the military, they will also concentrate on other aspects in terms of their needs and challenges.
He added that they also discussed the possibility of meeting up with foreign embassies for exchange of views with regard to defence and security.
United Seychelles (US) representatives on the committee, namely Hon. Churchill Gill and Hon. Audrey Vidot, were not present at the meeting.
The committee was set up to allow parliament to better tackle the budget allocation to the national security forces such as the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF), the Seychelles Police Force and the Seychelles Intelligence Service, among other national security agencies, in line with the country’s defence and security agenda.
Patrick Joubert