The President of the Republic, James Alix Michel, is the proud
owner of approximately twenty thousand square meters of prime land at Sans Souci,
Mahe. This is nothing extraordinary except that the land was bought from government.
In 2001, Minister Joel Morgan, then Principal Secretary of
the Ministry of Land Use and Habitat, transferred to James Michel three plots of
land at Sans Souci namely parcels V10426, V10427 and V10248; all totalling in
excess of nineteen thousand square meters. Michel paid SR 561,000 for the
plots; not at all an expensive transaction.
While the normal man is allowed to buy only one plot
averaging four hundred square meters from government, Michel has the special
privilege of buying forty times what the normal man can buy; he receives twenty
times the normal man’s salary anyway.
It has become a
routine; Presidents buy as much land as they wish from the state. The former
President bought his acres at Anse Polite amid a lot of controversy. This
practice is most unethical and cannot be condoned.
Over the nearly four decades the regime has been in power,
all it has done is to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer. They have
failed to even consider constructing an official residence for the President of
the Republic like in all civilized democratic societies. Instead, they have
acquired land from the state and built their mansions from state funds
including refurbishment and maintenance. Once they vacate the highest office,
everything becomes their personal belongings; this is atrocious and a highly
corruptive practice.
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| James Michel overthrowing a democratically elected government |
Moreover, the use of the defence forces to offer close
security to the head of state has been inappropriately used. The former
President created an army unit specifically to take care of his personal
security; it is still in existence. James Michel, on his part, moved
considerable forces to serve as his personal security detachment. Under the
guise of combating piracy, the elite commando unit ‘Tazar’ came into being and
a new barrack was set up in the hills of L’Exile. How long can the people of
Seychelles pay for the extravaganza of a few irresponsible leaders?
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| James Michel in North Korea with Kim II Sung |
It is about time the President behaves in a more responsible
manner and puts in place the proper infrastructures needed to support the institutions
of state; the President’s private office being the first. Parti Lepep has the
misconstrued notion that they will lead Seychelles for the next fifty years. If
each President buys large portions of land from the state and build their
mansions, it will not be long before they bankrupt the country with elite
commando units littering the landscape. This attitude must come to end without
further delay.
