HONESTY IS FUNDAMENTAL IN GOVERNMENT : LEADERS MUST BE ACCOUNTABLE

The story of a buggy on La Digue shows where Herminie has betrayed the trust of the public.

LDS holds firmly to the principle of honest government. Leaders must be truthful to the public which it serves. This is the fundamental standard for democratic governance which we want for Seychelles.

The Buggy on arrival at La Digue

The incident of the buggy which President Patrick Herminie has brought to La Digue has shown where he is failing to live up to the standards which LDS has set for our country. The buggy itself is a trivial matter but it is in such things that the character of government is shown.

In the first place, the public has been shocked by the fact that the President has brought this buggy to La Digue. It is no ordinary buggy. It is described as air-conditioned and bullet proof. The wish to deploy such an extravaganza for his personal use on this small island shows the true character of the person who pretends to be a man of the people.

But the incident has revealed much worse. The Minister for Transport, Veronique Laporte, has now affirmed publicly that the buggy was a gift that was ”inadvertently” registered in the name of President Herminie.

This is an admission that Herminie, as President, accepted a gift that he did not publicly acknowledge. He should not have accepted such a gift in the first place and having done so he should have made a public declaration of it. It is a very serious matter for the President to accept such a gift and the donor needs to be publicly declared. The acceptance openly suggests that it may be in return for favours or inappropriate consideration in relation to a government decision. This inevitably raises the issue of corruption.

The fact that the gift was accepted, registered in his name and sent to La Digue shows that the intention was to keep the gift secret. It has only become public because the registration was “inadvertently” revealed. The intention to avoid a public declaration is a gross failure of transparency and a lack of honesty.

Minister Laporte has now declared that the buggy was a gift to State House. This is a shameful excuse. How could a matter with obvious implications for the honesty of the President have been handled with such incompetence? If this was the responsibility of the Ministry for Transport, Minister Laporte should answer for it.

But much worse is that a Public Service official of long standing has become the scapegoat for the lack of transparency of the President and the incompetence of the Minister.

Minister Laporte has confirmed that Principal Secretary Patrick Andre has been suspended because of the leak of the registration in the President’s name, and that there is an investigation on this point. Minister Laporte got it wrong. The investigation must be about who gave the buggy and why the President accepted it, not about who disclosed the registration The revelation of the registration is clearly not a matter to merit suspension. There is no reason why PS Andre should have been expected to keep the matter secret. This is purely and simply victimisation..

LDS calls on the Government to make a full and truthful declaration on this matter, especially to disclose the donor of the gift and to explain why it was accepted. It further calls for any disciplinary measure against PS Andre to be discontinued and for him to be reinstated in his post. The action against a public officer in such a case is totally an abuse of power.

LDS remains committed to maintaining the standards of transparency and accountability in Government which the Seychellois people deserve.