“A CALL TO THE PRIESTHOOD IS A CALL TO LEADERSHIP”

In this week’s Big Interview, Leader of the Opposition and priest, Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan shares with TODAY his candid views on the government response to COVID-19 and the pitfalls of a lack of consultation, whether the elections should be postponed, the country’s social and economic landscape and the necessity of reinventing ourselves for a post COVID-19 world. We speak to Hon. Ramkalawan about the priesthood and politics, leadership, the protection of children and the family unit in the country.

Hon. Wavel Ramkalawan

 Father, speak to us about your religious beginnings and aspirations to lead?

Well, now we’re going back some 55 years. I’ve always felt the call to become a priest. This was apparent at the age of four on Praslin. In fact, it’s my earliest memory that sticks to mind. From there everything just continued.

I knew exactly what I was called to do in life. When I finished my A-Levels I went to the Theological College in Mauritius. Upon my return I was ordained Deacon and after one year I was ordained to the priesthood. Then I went to Birmingham University to do my post graduate degree in pastoral care, and returned to Seychelles.

Looking at how things were in the one-party state, I again felt a call to stand up and address the issues of the lack of democracy and a lot of illegal things that were happening. I remember very well when Kathleen Pillay was denied entry into the country and she was sent back. She came a second time and then she was accepted into the country after a lot of negotiations and aggression. I always say that this marked me and a little later, I denounced the system in a sermon. I was then banned by Albert Rene from doing any services on radio.

A year later, things started to change and together with others such as Roger Mancienne, Jean- François Ferrari, Bernard and Annette Georges and others, we pushed for multi-party democracy under the name ‘Parti Seselwa’. Eventually, multi-party democracy was accepted and we continued to this day as a registered political party.

Would you say that there is a link between the clergy and politics in that it involves a lot of speaking to communities?

I see what you mean. In fact, one can say that a call to the priesthood is a call to leadership. As a priest you are leading; of course, you’re firstly a messenger preaching the gospel but at the same time you also have to address issues going on in the country.

There is a similarity but the common point is leadership. When we got multi-party, I was chosen to be the leader of ‘Parti Seselwa’. Locally, there were no leaders and since I had stood up to the regime, I was asked to lead the party.

As the Opposition Leader, what are you opposing?

Leader of the Opposition is the title. I wouldn’t focus too much on the word opposition or anything else. I see myself as a political leader with other strong-willed people and colleagues around me, aiming to fulfil a mission.

There is a vision and it’s always been there: returning Seychelles to a fully-fledged democracy, fighting for justice, equality, for the protection of human rights and a strong economy where wealth is fairly distributed. This is what we are fulfilling.

Like I said, the title is ‘Leader of the Opposition,’ simply because I am not part of the government. Of course, I oppose a lot of the present government’s policies. In fact, I have felt like this since Rene was president; it’s the same political party!

They have been responsible for a lot. You just need to look at what comes out of the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission to understand why I could never be part of that system. There have been too many killings, too many who’ve had to live in exile, people have lost jobs and properties and all of these things do not match my way of thinking.

I oppose even to this day because there is still a lot of corruption that goes on. Through the FPAC we’ve revealed a lot of anomalies in the way things are being done. I oppose the system because I believe Seychelles needs a break from the terrible past of bloodshed and corruption. Seychelles needs a fresh start. For the time being yes, I am the presidential candidate but I want to see a fresh start for the country and I believe that once we change the government, then politics will be different. We will have more young people involved and people will feel that it’s not about partisanship but fighting for the greater good of the country.

How do you think the government is handling the COVID-19 situation?

Well, we have to look at the medical side and the economy. These are the two main elements. I firmly believe that Doctor Gédéon and team are doing a good job but I wish a lot of decisions were taken earlier.

As you know, I pushed for a lockdown after our first few cases, I knew what I was talking about. Now we have a situation whereby after the 11th case, there is the possibility of community transmission, we don’t know where we stand today. We are walking around with fingers crossed and eyes to the sky, thanking God for protecting us.

I believe that we shouldn’t have ever been in this situation. I pushed for a lockdown even before 14 days after the first two cases were diagnosed. We are now working backwards, so to speak.

We hear that things are getting better but measures being taken point to the other direction, the curfew. It is a bit of a mess and of course in that mess, suddenly people are asking questions. Is it worse that what we’re being told?

I pray that we do not get any more positive cases and that on the medical front everything gets sorted out.

Now for the economy, I think the country needs to look at things with new eyes and we also need to think in terms of how we reinvent ourselves. I would say that the government was too hasty in announcing certain measures. Danny Faure should never have uttered the phrase, “the government will cater for salaries in the private sector.”

This should never had been said. Instead, the government should have first consulted with the private sector and not just SCCI. I’ve heard a lot of criticism of the SCCI. There are other bodies such as the Praslin Business Association, the La Digue Business Association and others.

The Opposition should have been consulted too because the economy and COVID-19 is not just about the government. There should have been wide consultation and from there, a better understanding could have been taken from the private sector.

Having made the announcement, it’s only now they’re reflecting. For example, some of the measures imposed on the private sector, be it annual leave or redundancy, these two issues will come back to bite the government. They were wrong decisions. Economists are openly speaking about it. We are now in the first month and people are getting replies and they’re upset.

The president retracted his decision. When the government found that it made a mistake saying that salaries would be covered, the bar was pushed higher, asking for so many documents and accounting records and such.

This is an indication that the government does not really want to pay the private companies. At the end of this month we will definitely see the real chaos.

A lot of self-employed people have received letters. They were expecting to get at least the minimum salary, just as was announced, but things are different. I know someone for instance who’s getting SCR2,000. This is SCR500 cash and SCR1,500 for STC vouchers to buy food.

The government is really messing up. The farmers were told “don’t worry, we have fertiliser stock for three months and then we’ll bring in more stock.” When they went to the stores, they saw this wasn’t true and the government had to change its story.

The whole thing about STC buying produce was not fulfilled, same thing with the fishermen.

The government has not led our producers up the right path. It looks like a knee-jerk reaction in order to give a quick answer. There have been a lot of promises, but I feel by the end of the month, things will be clearer. The government should not tie the hands of the private sector. The reality will hit the country hard.

Seychelles is shocked to hear about the child-molestation cases, which in fact is widespread and has been ongoing for years but remains taboo. What is your take?

I condemn child molestation. I believe our children are here for us to protect them. They should not be preyed upon and abused by adults. For me, this is a clear no-go area as far as our children are concerned. The three men convicted pleaded guilty and of course, everybody went into shock.

It’s not the first time that people have been convicted for similar offences. A few years back a guy was arrested for abusing young children and there was an uproar. He was sentenced for over 20 years and everyone went quiet after a while. Now the uproar is back.

I think the country needs to be serious about protecting our children. What sticks out for me is that this is the first time it’s happened when we have a minister responsible for the Family. This has happened under their watch. Now, we can either say that they’re working and they’ve been able to identify offenders, or on the other hand we can turn around and say that the ministry isn’t doing its job.

This latest case went through the internet and we know well that international organisations have ways of tracking these paedophiles, so what has Seychelles been doing? We complain about social media, but what has been done concretely? We still have fake profiles and children can be easily lured through these profiles.

The police need to get their act together. An IP address can easily be traced. One, we need to step up as far as social media is concerned. Two, the family needs to be more responsible. We hear from time to time that children go missing. When they do return home, what do the parents do? Do the police manage to trace where the children have been? Your phone has a GPS on it and we should be able to track and follow where a child could have been.

Schools must be able to identify abnormal behaviour. These kids exhibit certain behaviour when such things happen.

Now the country needs to step up, make an example of these offenders as a deterrent to would-be predators. People who do these things are sick in the head. Maybe they should realise that they shouldn’t be preying on young children, rather getting on with a serious adult life.

Would you agree that Seychelles as a whole is going through a lot of social ills whereby certain unhealthy actions and habits, that are Western, are deemed normal?

I think you’re right. A lot of kids find this normal. Though we are labelled as African, we tend to follow more the Western culture. I am amazed at how things that pop up in the west suddenly become the norm here.

There is a tendency to see such things as normal. It is also true that parents, because of this western mentality, fall into the trap of thinking this is normal. They don’t feel the need to impose restraint on their kids.

A lot of people would say that it is because of how kids dress up and they’re looking for it. I don’t think we should ever say these things. A child remains a child and it’s the adult that interprets things differently.

A child taking part in a child beauty pageant is innocent at its core and I believe it is the adult’s mind that interprets things differently, seeing an opportunity to prey on a child. This is why I used the expression of them being sick in the head.

Unfortunately, the family is not a strong unit in Seychelles. Over 60% of children are born out of a serious relationship. Furthermore, a lot of family units comprise of a father who have other children, as well as the mother. We have instances where the stepdad preys on the daughter of the partner. There is a lot of secrecy as the mother does not want the shame of the revelations. The innocent child becomes a victim in that sense too because the very people who are supposed to protect them cannot do so.

It’s a complex issue and I think we definitely have to start somewhere. The attitude of ‘laissezfaire’ has gone too far. The attitude of sleeping-over by teenagers has become a norm and a lot of parents do not know what goes on when their kids sleep over. We need to get back to basics!

What are your views on the police force and how do you think they’re faring during the COVID- 19 situation?

Unfortunately, I would say, following my own experience, I am quite disappointed with the police force, especially with the ANB. This came out clearly in the report (related to my unlawful stop and search) by Judge Robinson that they need to have a protocol on how they carry out certain activities. If you stop somebody for a search, there needs to be reasonable suspicion. Your freedom is sacred and anything that takes away your freedom needs to be real!

I think the police needs quite a bit of training; the attitude of officers should be more reasonable. Without hesitation, I will talk about the case of Honourable Valmont. He was arrested after breaking the curfew rules from what I understand and he ran to his home. The police chased and followed him to his home. If this is the way it happened, for me, the question is, you arrest somebody in his home and you take him to a police station to have him detained. This does not make sense. It should not have happened. He should’ve been cautioned and made to report to the police the following day and charged if needed.

But then, I’ve seen multiple videos being circulated where officers use excessive force or tear gas, playing the ‘cowboy’. The police need to be reasonable and uphold the rule of law.

I believe that our police force needs to take stock on what’s happening within it and then give Seychelles proper policing. This way, a police officer does not abuse his powers. A citizen can talk and reason with an officer and that officer should have the possibility to understand and empathise. It shouldn’t be a question of ‘no, I’m the officer! Therefore, I am detaining you.’ No, this type of policing is gone, it’s finished.

I look forward to an era where police officers are well trained and will see themselves as servants of the people and they will help to maintain law and order. They will not be the ones accused or convicted of breaking the law.

Can we get an update on FPAC recommendations and where it’s at now?

The thing is, the FPAC has done a lot of work up until now. We have carried out a number of investigations and we’ve presented our reports to the Assembly and through the Assembly, to the government.

Unfortunately, I feel that the government has not taken the findings of the FPAC seriously. On the other hand, though, what I have found is through our deliberations, especially when it comes to the Auditor General’s report, looking at the issues raised, the ministries have listened to our propositions on procurement and we find that year after year, things get better.

In fact, one instance we are happy about concerns the Botanical Gardens Foundation. The government was collecting only SCR1.2 million and after conducting our investigation, we saw where money was disappearing. We notified them and gave recommendations. Interestingly enough, last year, they collected over SCR7 million. The same for L’Union Estate, which was running at a loss and now after the FPAC intervened, for the last two years, it is running at a profit. If I’m not mistaken, it recorded SCR15 million as a yearly profit.

Now, the work staring the FPAC in the eye is the first disbursements to be made under the special budget for COVID-19 and for the Ministry of Finance to provide us with a report. That should be presented to the National Assembly and the FPAC will go through it and make our report to the Assembly for an assessment on what we have found.

How have you been feeling about the elections up until now and do you think that it should be postponed?

No, I don’t think the elections should be postponed. We are in April and elections should be held between September and Novembe, we still have some time to go. South Korea had their elections some two, three weeks ago in the midst of the COVID crisis. The US will be having theirs too, so I don’t see anything that should stop the elections from being held unless there is a second round of COVID- 19 that really messes up the world, then I would obviously step back and think about what we are going to do.

Of course, the situation has affected the traditional campaigning style but just like the country will have to reinvent itself, we have already reinvented our style of campaigning as I am sure others have, so things are going smoothly.

But, back to election time, I am confident that the people of Seychelles still want to see a change of government and I believe it will happen in 2020.

Do you think the leading party has an unfair advantage in terms of campaigning and visibility since the president and the government are constantly on TV and communicating to the public?

Well, yes, one could easily come to the conclusion that Danny Faure is always on TV and making announcements and as such is doing a lot of politics. I would say that it’s normal, I do not see it as an unfair advantage. He is the president of the country and COVID-19 is a serious issue and as the head of the executive he has to be the one leading the fight.

So, I don’t have any problems with that. In fact, sometimes it is to our advantage! He makes an announcement and then he needs to go back on these. Farmers complain, fishermen complain; he makes an announcement and the private sector complains. I mean, overexposure can also destroy.

So right now, I am not complaining about his presence because he is doing us quite a lot of good.

Has the party discussed a structure and changes if you reached the executive?

We were already working on a programme and in fact, because of COVID-19 we have had to change a lot of things. For example, the way we look at the economy. Tourists will probably come back, after whatever number of years it takes. But it is obvious now that we cannot make tourism the number one [pillar].

We are looking at how to give fishing and agriculture their rightful place in our economy. We are also looking into self-sufficiency so that we can cut on importation. If we do that, we can build higher reserves. These two are now top on our agenda and we’re talking to experts on how to push this forward.

Tourism does not need to be rebuilt and reinvented. But agriculture, we need to start thinking in terms of livestock. This is one area that needs emphasis, as well as production.

When we look at our islands run by IDC, COVID-19 has proven to be a real test. Apart from tourism, they haven’t produced much. Celebrating 40 years of IDC, I believe there is a huge question mark on what IDC has actually been doing. They put all their eggs in one basket and today, we cannot depend on IDC for livestock or agricultural products. We have to take a new look in how we manage our islands that will bring greater benefits to our country.

by A. Laporte

Source: Today in Seychelles

UNLAWFUL SEARCH RULING TO BE CHALLENGED IN SUPREME COURT

By N.Esparon

Following the release of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the search of Honourable Wavel Ramkalawan’s luggage at Seychelles’ International Airport on 8 February 2020, the legal counsel for the Seychelles Police Force, Frank Elizabeth addressed the media through a press conference on Friday, 17 April 2020.

When Judge Fiona Robinson rendered the search conducted by ANB officers on Honourable Ramkalawan which occurred in February to be unlawful as the officers did not satisfy the test of reasonable grounds for suspicion before the search took place, it raised the question of the legality on the way stop and search is currently being conducted by law enforcement officers in Seychelles. The Misuse of Drugs Act, 2016 (MODA), under the Power of search and seizure, article 25 (1) states that an officer at any time, without a warrant, can - (a) to stop and search any person whom the officer reasonably suspects of having in his or her possession a controlled drug or an article liable to seizure.

According to Elizabeth, the Seychelles Police Force is not disputing the fact that MODA doesn’t give any officers the authority to conduct a stop and search without reasonable suspicions. However, Elizabeth explained that when consent for the search is given to the police, this should give the police the authority to search contrary to the findings in the report, which states that even though Honourable Ramkalawan instigated the search, and giving consent in the process, it was still an unlawful search due to no evidence of reasonable suspicion.

 

Elizabeth

Elizabeth announced that the Seychelles Police Force will therefore be taking this matter to the Supreme Court for judicial review and for them to make a pronouncement on whether Judge Robinson’s ruling was correct. He also pointed out that Judge Robinson based her ruling only on section 25 of the MODA but she should also have taken into account the Right to privacy, Article 20 (1) of the Seychelles Constitution where it states that every person has a right not to be subjected to – (a) without the consent of that person, to the search of the person or property or premises of that person or to the unlawful entry by others on the premises of that person. However, Elizabeth believes that in reverse to Article 20, where consent for the search is given to the authority, this should permit the law enforcement officers to search without any reasonable suspicions but this is contrary to the report as it suggests regardless of consent, reasonable suspicions must be present first.

According to Anthony Derjacques, the legal counsel for Honourable Ramkalawan, a judicial review is only applicable to an adjudicating authority, such as a tribunal, a court or public authority where they would render a determination or judgment on a matter. The role of the Commission of Inquiry is simply a body established under the Act by the president to establish the finding of the facts, the law and the facts under the law, it is not to adjudicate between parties like in a court of law but to establish the fact and report back to the president; the findings of the Commission can include recommendations.

Anthony Derjacques

He also pointed out that you don’t normally refer to the Constitution when there’s a dispute with a special law, in this case, the MODA, 2016. Normally this is addressed by submitting a petition to the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of MODA. As MODA is separate from article 20, it has to be applied as is.

“If you want to enlarge MODA in the light of article 20, you have to take into account when looking for reasonable suspicion that in law, consent from a child is not consent and consent under duress is not consent in law. If there is a finding of consent, it is one of the circumstances that must be taken into consideration by the police officer when he or she finds there was reasonable suspicion. For example, a person who approaches a police officer and says to search him, the police officer will tell him to go away I have no intention of searching you. But if, in the circumstances that someone approaches an officer and ask to be searched to get the attention of the officer whilst his friends walk by with a package containing drugs, the police officer can take into account whether to determine if the person that said to search me knew about the drug trafficking taking place and raises a reasonable suspicion in his mind, he can even arrest that person. You cannot look at consent or the lack of consent in isolation, it is one of the circumstances when you try to interpret section 25 (1) of MODA” clarified Derjacques.

Source: Today in Seychelles