Exclusive interview with President Wavel Ramkalawan |05 August 2023
President Ramkalawan
‘None of my ministers has been named
as a perpetrator in the TRNUC report’
President Wavel Ramkalawan has said no one in his administration has been declared a perpetrator in the report by the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) following its enquiry into the coup d’état of June 5, 1977.
This was one of the many topical issues addressed by the head of state during his sit-down with Seychelles NATION yesterday morning at State House.
We bring you the 45-minute interview conducted by Journalist Patrick Joubert.
Seychelles NATION: Mr President you recently concluded your consultative meetings in the districts. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your administration after having listened to complaints by the public?
President Ramkalawan: A lot of issues raised were personal and not related to the ministries. So it is very difficult for me to rate my administration from those meetings. But from my own observation, firstly, the people of Seychelles feel freer to come to a public meeting to express their concerns with the president without expecting anything to happen to them. This in itself gives me a sense of encouragement in terms of our democracy. Secondly, in relation to dragging of the feet, it shows that if people responsible had looked seriously and attended to concerns of the Seychellois people, a lot of issues raised would have been resolved. I am happy that many were resolved through the public meetings including people who received job offers and sponsorships. There were other immediate actions to address law and order issues mostly related to drug problem, where people in the community are now happy and more at ease, although the problems have not been completely eradicated. What encourages me the most is that people are taking note that there is a government that listens to them and will act upon their concerns whenever necessary.
Seychelles NATION: Was it difficult for government to react on those concerns raised?
President Ramkalawan: It was easy. All people want are simple answers as to whether something can be done or not. As simple as that. I believe that the majority of issues that our people are facing today, are issues that can simply be resolved through better communication.
Seychelles NATION: There are concerns that you still micro-manage government ministries and organisations and it is only through your interventions that things are resolved or get moving. Is it true?
President Ramkalawan: This is not true. If you remember, Vice-President Ahmed Afif and I took the decision not to be in charge of any ministry as a whole, although some portfolios from some ministries fall under our responsibility.
We took the decision on purpose to ensure that we, at State House, get to conduct an oversight on all the ministries. In the process we only contact our ministers for follow-up of issues that come to our offices and also to represent the ministers when they are not present.
It just happened that I am representing Minister Billy Rangasamy who is not available at the moment and since then, I have been able to resolve some issues. If I have been able to intervene and to get things moving, it does not mean that I micro-manage. I am only taking my responsibility as president vis-a-vis the people of Seychelles and to the ministry, which I oversee in collaboration with the ministers in charge.
It is true, there are many areas I feel that I have to step in because I have the responsibility, as president, to answer to the people of Seychelles who elected me.
Seychelles NATION: Are you happy with the work of your administration?
President Ramkalawan: In general, I am very satisfied with the way my administration is working, and the way the ministers are undertaking their responsibility and duties even though we encounter challenges.
Seychelles NATION: Have you read the report from the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC)?
President Ramkalawan: Given I knew that the National Assembly was going to debate on the report, I did not read the whole report as I wanted to keep an open mind until I get the results of the debate for fresh comparison.
But what I did when I received the electronic copy and given that I had 80 days to make it public, on the same day I sent a copy to the Speaker of the National Assembly and posted it on the State House website for the public. Now I am just waiting for the National Assembly’s report following the debate, to announce the intention of government vis-a-vis their points put forward on the TRNUC recommendations.
Seychelles NATION: The leader of the opposition, Sebastien Pillay, has complained that TRNUC had given you a list of perpetrators for the discussion, in favour of your government and party, while they have not been awarded with a copy for their own use. What can you say about this?
President Ramkalawan: The complaint by the opposition does not make sense at all as all victims’ names are listed in the report. All they have to do, instead of being lazy, is to get a pen and a piece of paper and to go over the report, find all the names and make their own list. What the Commission did was to send me, as head of state, a summary that listed the names of perpetrators identified. This was separate from the report. The file was named as confidential and I gathered it was for me and not for sharing. It is my responsibility to respect the desire of the commission.
Now, when I listened to the debate marked by insinuations, I would like to state that none of my ministers has been named as a perpetrator in the report. It is totally false when the leader of the opposition named Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari and Minister Sylvestre Radegonde as perpetrators. This is what I call lying in the first degree. No one in my administration has been declared a perpetrator.
Seychelles NATION: There was also a call from the opposition for the dismissal of the Election Boundary Committee chaired by the chairman of the Electoral Commission Danny Lucas, which according to them will cause a conflict of interest. What do you have to say about that?
President Ramkalawan: Sometimes when I listen to some people talk, I wish they could do a bit more homework. Today we are celebrating 30 years of our constitution and I am shocked when I see people who formed part of the electoral commission, and who do not know the content of the constitution especially section 122, which stipulates that apart from having 19 districts on Mahé, two on Praslin and 1 on La Digue, among others, all of the districts must have a balance in the number of inhabitants.
That responsibility lies with the Electoral Commission and so it is doing its work. This is not the first time that such an exercise has been done in the country and one would remember when Au Cap became a district. Among other changes during that exercise was the Mont Fleuri cemetery fell under the Plaisance district, the Beau Vallon petrol station was under the Bel Ombre administration and parts of Roche Bois, with no connection to Beau Vallon, was administered by the Beau Vallon district. There are other examples but who did all that? Was it not the electoral commissioner at the time? Today the decision will not be taken by only one person but rather by a committee represented by various other persons from outside the commission.
The result of the exercise through an SI, will be debated in the National Assembly for the final decision. I do not see anything to complain about and for the committee to be dissolved given that it is doing its work according to the constitution.
Seychelles NATION: What is your comment on the call for the exclusion of the Seychellois diaspora living abroad from participating in National election?
President Ramkalawan: I think we should stop acting as hypocrites and insult our brothers and sisters living overseas. Holding elections overseas is a modern and common practice everywhere in the world and it is not of our invention.
We have to take note that SADC encourages such diaspora voting practices and we form part of SADC. I think we are against it because we think it will not be in our favour. Who was the political party that paid more airplane tickets for Seychellois living abroad to come to Seychelles to vote in elections? Was it not the same people who are putting forward those arguments? My political theme is ‘Sesel pour tou son zanfan’. You are a Seychellois whether living overseas or here.
Furthermore, we are going to make it possible for Seychellois living abroad to be given National identity card when they enter the country, not for election purposes, which have set rules and regulation to register as a voter, but to facilitate their lives while in the country.
Allowing the Seychellois diaspora to vote is only a consideration and no decision has been taken yet. I personally believe that all Seychellois wherever they maybe, should be given the possibility to play their part to determine our country’s direction. A Seychellois is a Seychellois wherever they may be.
Seychelles NATION: Government has taken the decision to review the salaries of constitutional appointees, will it happen this year?
President Ramkalawan: Government chose to do an exercise to review all salaries and this resulted in the 10% increase in basic salary for government employees and the creation of new salary structure for salary increase. In the exercise it was found that the salaries for constitutional appointees was mixed up on the salary grid table with those of other civil servants and the decision by the committee in charge was to have them separated from the list. Apart for the revision of the salary structure for the constitutional appointees it is also to attract potential calibre candidates to take up these positions.
The contradictions found in this exercise is that some people in government and in the parastatals were earning more than me as head of state and even the ministers and other appointees. This has to be addressed. A draft report has been presented to cabinet for discussion and the committee will also be holding public meetings to get further views from the public, prior to a decision.
Seychelles NATION: The Tourism Sustainability Environment Levy is in force but we heard that petitioning against it is still ongoing. What is your view on the ongoing situation?
President Ramkalawan: All this shows the liberty that exists in the country. Just a few years ago when the government wanted to introduce the bed tax, did we hear them? No. Today they make petitions. To tell you clearly, I am very disappointed with their approach. Government called for tiered system for small, medium and large hotels and it was the same organisation that told us it was not good and to have a flat rate instead. Government listened and when we introduced the same rate they still maintained it was not good. We came back with a tiered rate and now they claim it was not good enough. I would like to know what is good for them.
This is a levy that will help sustain our environment and it will not affect the hotels directly. Many countries have introduced levies for different reasons. I have learned that in England they have just introduced a 10 pound levy for visitors entering the country.
I have visited Côte D’Or on Praslin and many hotel owners have approached me to find ways to protect coastal beach areas, but where will we get the money to do this? We did a beach wall project at Beau Vallon and there were many complaints. Now that the work is completed, the same people who were complaining are the ones enjoying the area.
The same happened for the retaining wall project in Anse Gaulette, which received a lot of complaints, but everyone has now gone quiet. We have many projects to protect coastal areas on Mahé, Praslin, La Digue, and on outer islands. So should we just sit down and complain about their disappearance and do nothing?
Does that mean people will now decide which tax to pay or not? It does not work like this. I hope that everyone come to their senses and collect the money on behalf of government.
Seychelles NATION: The Seychelles National Youth Assembly has voiced its concerns over the lack of free sanitation products for girls that were promised to all schools and an increase in the school allowances. What has happened to those?
President Ramkalawan: I always follow the Youth Assembly’s debate and I congratulate the young members for their good work. The sanitary products sponsored by Vijay are still available, but the children have not come forward to get hold of the products. We are fully committed a hundred percent to what we say. Given that now the youth assembly has brought up the matter, we will take it up and see the best way to make the products available to the school girls. For the increase in allowance, we have already done some adjustments but we will make further revision to the allowance of post-secondary students and those at universities, as the economy gets better.
Seychelles NATION: Lastly Mr President, what do you make of the coup d’état trend picking up on the African Continent?
President Ramkalawan: This is not acceptable. It is not acceptable at all as it points out that the continent is going backward, especially in the western region were most of the coups have taken place. I am a person who believes in democracy and the change should come through the ballot box and not through the barrel of a gun and I join the African Union to firmly condemn the coup that took place in Niger recently. I condemn all coup d’états and this is why we are fighting to ensure that our country remains as a democratic state and that the change in power comes from the ballot box.
