I came across an article on the internet that got me
thinking about the general feeling of malaise and discontentment of the people
in Seychelles. In my view a small elite
owns the bulk of the land and wealth of Seychelles while the majority
suffocates under an oppressive system that condemns them to poverty and
hardship. Only the people’s revolution through the ballot box can turn the tide
to ensure everyone gets a share of the pie
Most 'ordinary Seychellois’ are on their own. Seychelles,
the tourist paradise has wealth in its ocean and yet the citizens pay crushing
taxes and do battle on a daily basis with a paralysing cost of living.
Is this normal? Is this freedom? How is this independence?
Why do the people still live like this, 41 years after the formal end of
British colonialism? Where is the independence dividend? Who does this kind of
democracy work for?
In Seychelles 40% or 30,000 of the population, have been
without enough food, and shelter and other basic necessities of life according
to official statistics. This 40% of the people live in poverty, and 40 years
after independence things have not improved much. In some areas this figure has
risen to 54%. How long will this go on? For how long will the people live like
this?
Ex-presidents are entitled to an official car, an armed
driver, an armed bodyguard and two police guards at home - on top of a hefty
salary and allowances. What about those “ghost” accounts and contracts (scams) in the name of national security?
While citizens are told by the rulers that there are inadequate funds, what
about government wastage and shady procurements? Co-habitation might be working
for the politicians but its not delivering for the people of Seychelles.
How many super wealthy Seychellois are there? This tiny clique
of super wealthy individuals control nearly two-thirds of Seychelles $ billion
economy owning about a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product. The
wealth distribution in Seychelles shows that a common thread running through
almost all the dollar millionaires is their political connections as well as
their ownership of large tracts of land. The wealthy political dynasties and
billionaire landowners reflect Seychelles top political leadership.
Essentially, the last 40 years of independence have been about
massive concentration of the nation’s wealth in the hands of a few people while
the masses languish in poverty. Since independence, public office whether
elective or appointive has remained the most important stepping stone to
fabulous wealth through corruption, land grabbing and all manner of economic
crimes against the people of Seychelles. The time has come to dismantle this
system. The masses feel completely alienated by the current dysfunctional
system and many remain very poor and are mostly landless. Who took their land
and why?
National unity remains elusive. The country is deeply
divided along political lines. Seychelles is yet to have a president whose
mandate begins in the ballot box and this, despite having had four. The
presidents from the Ruling Party deepen the political divide by rewarding their
people with public resources and positions. They buy political loyalty by
rewarding party elites and punishing entire groups by excluding them from
meaningful development. As a result Seychellois generally think of themselves
first as “ek nou e pa ek nou” members of their political groups and not
citizens of a nation.
Can the people do something about the sad situation they
find themselves in? Yes, firstly by the people asking for the return of their
land. The people are fed up with the pampered political class. They want
fundamental change, not another package of negotiated reforms. No amount of
reforms can cure the ravages of years of elite politics. Other than
revolutionary change, through the ballot box, nothing is going to improve the
lives of the majority of Seychellois. The super-rich individuals will certainly
grow richer, while the conditions of life of other Seychellois will worsen. The
fabulous wealth of the dollar millionaires is not going to trickle down to the
masses. Never!
The people themselves must dismantle this system. And they
can. Most people never thought British colonialism would end. It did. Not many
people imagined apartheid could be defeated by the people of South Africa. It
was. Few people thought the deeply entrenched Moi kleptocracy would go. It did.
It took the single selfless protest action of a young Tunisian street vendor,
Tarek al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi, (not some powerful politician or grouping!) to
bring down the 22-year-old dictatorship of Ben Ali in 2011.
A new radical leadership must emerge. The ultimate political
authority belongs to the people and they must use it to bring about the change
the country so badly needs. They are not as helpless as some might think. They
have the power to overthrow this predatory system and put in place a new one
that genuinely serves their interests. We need a new consciousness. People
ought to understand that their conditions of poverty, disease, insecurity,
unemployment, landlessness, are not the will of God- or a result of lack of
faith. Rather, the people are victims of an unjust order. This order must be
destroyed, through the ballot box. This is the noblest cause that the ‘ordinary
citizens’ of Seychelles must now undertake: the struggle for their own
liberation from the clutches of elite politics.
Alexia G. Amesbury
