CO-HABITATION: A CANCER IN OUR DEMOCRACY
The new “Ek nou pa ek nou” culture sweeping across the political landscape in Seychelles is a potent and fatal threat to democracy and progress. Under the guise of “co-habitation” certain institutions and people are literally being allowed to get away with murder. This is because of no accountability, no transparency, no responsibility and no good governance – it is corruption and it is corruption unchecked.
A call as far back as last year was made to have the environment destruction at Anse Boileau halted. It is still ongoing to this very day. Where are the appointed custodians of our environment, and those who oversee their mandate? When all agree that our environment is the most important factor supporting our international popularity as a tourism destination, why do we stick our heads in the sand over the destruction of our environment. This is corruption across the whole Executive and the National Assembly. It is a clear demonstration and example of why co-habitation is a danger to the future of Seychelles.
Foreign workers who are forced to forage in the Anse Boileau marsh, and along the beach for ghost crabs to eat are the victims of evil masters. It is an abuse of human rights but their masters allegedly have deep pockets to pay off the local politicians. The local politicians and so-called guardians of Seychellois democracy are failing big-time and keep congratulating each other on their numerous failures. It is a common trait amongst the mediocre to blame everybody and everything else for their failures, an inability to confront and overcome failures. In such a scenario the nation suffers.
A large number of Seychellois families are suffering because of the cost of living, what have the overpaid members in the National Assembly been doing about it – absolutely nothing. Again the source of inability to act is based on the saying “Garbage in, garbage out”. The figures being provided through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to the Seychelles from the National Bureau of Statistics are not reflective of the expenditure by ordinary Seychellois.
For a start the Minister of Finance, (who is nine months behind in providing quarterly financial reports to the country) should be held accountable for the items that make up the basket of goods for the CPI. These goods, as obtained from the National Statistical Bureau (NSB) for September, 2017, need to be seriously questioned. A first question is why do “non-food items “ make up 75% of the ordinary household purchases? It is common knowledge that food purchasing forms the largest share of expenditure in Seychellois households, and yet forms only 25% of the items in the CPI from the NSB. This shows extremely serious flaws, bordering on deliberate mis-information by those responsible.
We have the Leader of the Opposition (LOTO) and that of Government Business exhorting everyone and anyone to get to grips with the cost of living in Seychelles. How can this be done when the information being provided is garbage?
All this is a surprising result of the excellent co-habitation atmosphere that exists between the National Assembly and the Executive. “Ek nou, pa ek nou” has now become the cancer of co-habitation eating away at our democracy. Who can we trust to do something about it?
Co-habitation represents a serious breakdown in the separation of powers between the various arms of government. This is a situation that will get worse if allowed to fester and grow. Without any checks on the dangers that co-habitation poses, democracy and the ordinary citizens will eventually pay the high price involved.
Independent
A call as far back as last year was made to have the environment destruction at Anse Boileau halted. It is still ongoing to this very day. Where are the appointed custodians of our environment, and those who oversee their mandate? When all agree that our environment is the most important factor supporting our international popularity as a tourism destination, why do we stick our heads in the sand over the destruction of our environment. This is corruption across the whole Executive and the National Assembly. It is a clear demonstration and example of why co-habitation is a danger to the future of Seychelles.
Foreign workers who are forced to forage in the Anse Boileau marsh, and along the beach for ghost crabs to eat are the victims of evil masters. It is an abuse of human rights but their masters allegedly have deep pockets to pay off the local politicians. The local politicians and so-called guardians of Seychellois democracy are failing big-time and keep congratulating each other on their numerous failures. It is a common trait amongst the mediocre to blame everybody and everything else for their failures, an inability to confront and overcome failures. In such a scenario the nation suffers.
A large number of Seychellois families are suffering because of the cost of living, what have the overpaid members in the National Assembly been doing about it – absolutely nothing. Again the source of inability to act is based on the saying “Garbage in, garbage out”. The figures being provided through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to the Seychelles from the National Bureau of Statistics are not reflective of the expenditure by ordinary Seychellois.
For a start the Minister of Finance, (who is nine months behind in providing quarterly financial reports to the country) should be held accountable for the items that make up the basket of goods for the CPI. These goods, as obtained from the National Statistical Bureau (NSB) for September, 2017, need to be seriously questioned. A first question is why do “non-food items “ make up 75% of the ordinary household purchases? It is common knowledge that food purchasing forms the largest share of expenditure in Seychellois households, and yet forms only 25% of the items in the CPI from the NSB. This shows extremely serious flaws, bordering on deliberate mis-information by those responsible.
We have the Leader of the Opposition (LOTO) and that of Government Business exhorting everyone and anyone to get to grips with the cost of living in Seychelles. How can this be done when the information being provided is garbage?
All this is a surprising result of the excellent co-habitation atmosphere that exists between the National Assembly and the Executive. “Ek nou, pa ek nou” has now become the cancer of co-habitation eating away at our democracy. Who can we trust to do something about it?
Co-habitation represents a serious breakdown in the separation of powers between the various arms of government. This is a situation that will get worse if allowed to fester and grow. Without any checks on the dangers that co-habitation poses, democracy and the ordinary citizens will eventually pay the high price involved.
Independent
Comments
Post a Comment