The Seychelles Column - By Christopher Gill

The Man Who Lives in a Bubble Speaks Out!
 
It was truly amazing listening to Mr. France Albert Rene give his little solo interview with Jude Louange of Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). While many Seychellois were cursing the SBC for giving him so much air time, for a non office bearer of the State, even Jude Louange started to express doubt in his questions as to whether or not the old dictator was still all there. What is glaringly clear is that the man lives in a bubble detached from our reality in Seychelles today. Just the little jesture of telling us everything will be great in 2 years is an utter joke.
 
For the sake of history, it is important to look into the bubble to gauge our reality from outside of it. As we do, we put the experiments of a disastrous leader to rest once and for all. Germany had to come to terms with Hitler, Combodia with Pol Pot, Peru with Fujimori, Chile with Pinochet, Uganda with Amin, and now Seychelles with Rene. Once we can do that, we will all be free; including President Michel.
 
Rene Says When He Sees A Doctor, People Say He Is Dead
 
Well, the rumor of Rene being whisked off by private jet to India, as confirmed by him to be Chennai, India was set aflame by SPPF themselves. This messaging came in from Cascade and the MNA of Cascade, Honorable Charles De Commarmond likely got hold of the rumour and likely moved it along in classic SPPF style.
 
SPPF themselves were calling people sending SMSs all around the island to tell them Rene had fallen gravely ill. When he returned, SPPF themselves told everyone, Rene was recovering. Now should Rene have the opportunity to broadcast on SBC once more, and invade our living rooms, it only helps the Opposition forces in Seychelles get stronger.
 
So the longer Rene now lives, the better it will be for the Opposition. So here is to your good health Mr. Rene, less all the Cuban cigars you smoked on our national budget over the years, of course.
 
Rene Says Because It Was Easter, He Came Back From The Dead

Rene trampled on the traditions of the Church when he says he was resurrected as Jesus Christ publicly. Rene is no Jesus Christ and he has never died, so he should not be saying to us that he has been resurrected and has come back to life.
 
The insinuation is revealing of a man that holds no faith in God (another Atheist in our midst). For one who worships an AK-47 cannot worship the Lord at the same time. If this
assertion is wrong, I invite Mr. Rene to attend any Church of worship on Sundays or any other day of the week, day or night.
 
Irrespective of the lack of belief in God, Mr. Rene should show respect for God and our Christian faith, because, he may just have to face his maker sooner or later. For him to be a mentor to President Michel, is a possible explanation as to why Mr. President has been led astray to be an Atheist as confirmed by Bloomberg, but denied by Michel through an SBC reporter. Rene got a hold of Michel when Michel was still a very young adult and influenced his thinking greatly as Rene claims credit for without much grace. Taking offense to holy water being doused on him on May 1st mass service for workers at Anse Royale, was testimony to Michel's sensitivity to those things which are Holy when bestowed upon him.
 
Rene Says We Were French English, But Not Seychellois
 
Of course, before we became a Nation on Independence Day (June 29^th 1976), we were under the British and in the past under the French. As a colony we were all subjects of whoever ruled us at any given time. Personally, I remember leaving Seychelles on NORDVER in 1970 as a child with a British Passport. But I knew I was a Seychellois, subject to the Crown, even back then. Rene exercises sophistry when he asserts he made us "Seychellois" to allude to justifying the Coup D’Etat of June 5th, 1977. It is his attempt to lie to us in public, in the hope that we do not catch him.  He believes that as he lies to us successfully, his act of treason against the then new nation called Seychelles will be erased from the history books.
 
I remind Mr. Rene, that Seychelles became Independent of Great Britain on June 29, 1976. The First President was James R. Mancham. Rene was Prime Minister. Nationhood had been die-casted and national identity officially launched. While Seychelles was still poor compared to Europe, which Island Nation was not Mr. Rene? It is not the Mancham Government that gave Seychelles the jump start she needed? Remember that Mancham is a Creole as many of us.
 
To bring some information into your Bubble Mr. Rene, the reclaimed land projects for the Airport were done under Mr. Mancham's administration and so was the reclaimed land to ESPLANADE and Maison Du Peuple and New Port.  Mancham caused to be built the Airport, and first decent hotels, which you milked off in the one party state, the results of which have left you with a bubble with all the comforts a man can dream of, but less the "prestige" unless staged and so paid for.
 
Many Seychellois living overseas in the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's would say they were British , French or whatever, simply to get on. Being a foreigner and immigrant in another country is no easy task Mr. Rene. I have been one most of my life because of your one party state communism experiment, so I know first hand. As one remains defiant and hold on to his past history openly, the Invitee society can make your life difficult. Perhaps Mr. Rene is aware that his sister refers to herself as an "Australian", is that not true? Even after June 5th, 1977. 
 
So much for giving us an identity
 
Rene did not make us a people as he wants us to believe. We were already a people well before the saddest day in our history – the dreaded 5^th June 1977. This is the day Rene divided a young nation and its citizens. The young and the youth must be educated about this as to never let another Rene control the destiny of our beloved motherland.  NEVER AGAIN should we place our destiny, our livelihood in the hands of another tyrant like Rene. He is not ashamed to say the Government of the day is an SPUP Government. I may be vocal against many of President Michel's policies and decisions, but he does not deserve this dark shadow of Rene over hanging like a henchman over his back. President Michel deserves to be his own man and set the course for Seychelles as a leader, for good or for bad. We already know what course Rene set for us and it was not good.  We are all paying the price of this tyrant today!
 
Today Everyone Is A Seychellois
 
Because of Rene, today, everyone calls themselves Seychellois – South Africans, Indians and Chinese who never live here, Russians, Czechs, Mafia, you name it, we are all Seychellois.  You do not have to be Seychellois to call yourself a Seychellois. Thank you Rene. Have you given us an identity or have you not taken away our identity and must now remap our survival, while you enjoy your false retirement and relax in your bubble with your millions?
 
Forty-five years later, we are a divided people facing an invasion of foreigners that treat Seychellois as third class citizens in their own homeland. For this Rene has failed in what he believes to be his greatest achievement. As the youth say," ya pe toke toke papa"!
 
For it is not that we are against foreigners, for many have helped us for many years, but we just do not accept, that we must submit to being third-class citizens in our own country, Mr. Rene.  You have sold enough passports during your tenure and today, your great slogan of “Sesel pour Seselwa” reflects the irony and mockery of your Coup D’Etat!
 
Rene Says People Are At The Center of Development
 
Well, I never heard such a line of bulllllllllllllllll to be polite. It is half truths like that which confuse simple minded people and lead them astray to support failure and failed ideas. In my opinion, you will know a man by his actions. As Rene says people are at the center of development, who and which people is he referring to? How many Seychellois of great capacity have been made to suffer under Rene's policies of victimization? How many Seychellois properties were acquired by Mr. Rene? How many businesses have been squeezed because they knew correctly that Rene 's policies were doomed to fail Seychelles? How many Seychellois people emigrated into exile due to Rene’s misguided policies? How many of Rene’s close Ministers such as Ferrari and the late Karl St. Ange stood by to watch the Rene dictatorship take our country down with him? Apart from James Michel, everyone bailed out due to Rene’s injudicious ways of governing our country.
 
Putting People At Center of Development
 
Rene implemented a social welfare program to placate a population into submission only because they were economic prisoners of the neo-colonial era, which Rene knew, but took advantage of for his own personal gain and benefit.
 
Today, his office sits on the reclaimed land he spoke about. While the villages he speaks about referring to Roche Caiman housing sit on the marsh side of the reclaimed land, businesses belonging to his cronies, wife and other lovies sit on the ocean front, villas and office buildings look into the horizon, the owners sleep at night knowing they are paying for cheap land that cost the people a lot, and they earn a lot in fat juicy rental fees. A hospital
is being built by a crony-lackey when our main hospital is dishing out cases of ecoli in the operating rooms.
 
While Seychelles has spent millions on reclaiming land, we have built only 600 houses in duplex and quadplex lay out. Much of the land has been used for cronies. As Rene squeezed Seychellois into apartments, his cronies took long stretches of ocean front, not to mention islands, to do what they please. With all that advantage, they still failed. What a national disgrace they have become forty- five years later. This is the reality outside the bubble.
 
To add insult to injury to the lies, much of the debt accumulated over the last 6 years have not been reclamation land related. The total funds borrowed and total due, are yet to be balanced publicly and certified to be true. Allegations of funds missing have yet to be clarified or denied.
 
Rene's dubious and questionable efforts to study Economics in the 1950's did Seychelles little good, as today we face national bankruptcy and the highest debt per capita in the world. A kid learning Economics 101 would have done a far better job!
 
While he says last year we had the highest Human Development Index in Africa, it is fake and we all know it. This year Mr. Rene, we are bankrupt officially, but your SPPF remains silent like a dead rat in an outdoor kitchen on Farqhuar.
 
For your information and under your so-called leadership, we have earned the dubious title of worse credit rating in the World.  I wonder if you passed any of those economics classes?  Judging from what your final scores are in running the country, it is apparent, you have had no idea on how to run a Country for the last 45 years. Your economics has been to prostitute our nationhood status and sell passports, beg, borrow and steal for an entire political career. The bubble is about to burst Mr. France Albert Rene.
 
Fortunately, the youth of Seychelles see your deceptions today and you are right to give your interview from your bunker. Carefully planned peeking windows to see cars driving by in your office has now proved to be a good idea, as you knew, as I do, that by today, 'le deluge' will be upon us and it is, but you are still here, so enjoy the era from your bunker bubble. Most recently, tourism expenditure numbers were threatening to approach -40% in national revenue, with similar demise in the TUNA INDUSTRY which you have not been able to manage let alone develop despite having 30 years to do so.
 
Rene Expresses Deep Concern For Michel's Leadership, But Concludes Confidence
 
Rene has said that Michel has the right vision for development, but says he makes many mistakes. But once the mistakes are corrected, according to Rene, everything will be fine. He salutes Michel for taking hard decisions, which he (Rene) has discussed and guided Michel through. He (Rene) says they work closely together. Well, that simply explains why we are BANKRUPT today under SPPF and we now suffer in a contraction of our economy by -11% according to IMF. As Rene asserts, things will get worse and will remain tough for another 5 to 6 years. If that is the case, why should we endorse failure and give failure the prestige of running our blessed Country with a mandate? Rene cannot answer that.
 
Rene Sounded Desperate and Detached
 
After this hefty Rene interview and his usurpation of the powers of Jesus on Easter day, I took stock of sentiments of many people who listened to him in this dreadful interview. They all said he sounded desperate and detached from our reality. One Seychellois man asked me, why was he so detached? I replied:

 

“If you were being flown out to Chennai for emergency medical treatment, denied your Cuban cigars forever more after smoking them for so long, being of ill-health and now scratching yourself to remove your skin constantly while speaking, tugging at your shirt sleeves like many at Lazil does, knowing IMF said $2.4 Billion is missing from the banking system of a country you ran for over 32 years, thinking of the ghosts of all the Seychellois who disappeared and lost their lives during your reign of terror, and thinking that God might just exist at the end of that lighted tunnel, would you not feel desperate and detached?”

The mighty bubble is about to burst!
 
May God Bless All Freedom Loving Seychellois and Our Beloved Seychelles!