A Grand Exercise in Deception

The District consultative meetings of President Michel

Now that the curtain has fallen on the comedy in 25 acts to cover the districts, where President James Michel of Seychelles and his ‘team’ were facing the ‘people’ to speak about the future of our country, it is time to assess what has really come out of these meetings.

We all know that this was carefully orchestrated with the huge help of Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) to get Michel and his government to gauge the political support that they currently hold in the districts after the decision to embark on the IMF program. As he tried to reassure the public in all the districts that the reforms were on the right track, he could not escape the various criticisms being dished out left, right and centre about the failings of his government since he has assumed power. So instead of focusing on talking about the future of the country, Michel and his team were confronted about the inefficiencies of his government in all sectors. The message coming out was very clear. The SPPF and now Lepep Party has failed the people for the past 3 decades. The present needs to be fixed fast before he can get any support in the future.

Michel calls it a grand exercise in democracy. How ironic when people are denied their democratic rights under the constitution (freedom of association etc…) and then he decides that meeting with a handful of mostly his own supporters in the districts constitutes democracy. It would be best to call it a grand exercise in deception as the sole purpose of these meetings was to deceive the people into believing that everything was fine, the economy was doing well under the reforms, currency was stabilizing, we need to unite etc…

Unfortunately, for those who have been following the SPPF throughout their history in power, it has always been about lies, deception and ‘bat latet’. The reforms that we have embarked on will take us more than 15 years before we see any light at the end of the tunnel. But not even a year on, Michel chooses to distort the facts by claiming that we are already there! And according to him, we will be out of this in no time. Many will remember when he came out after his first election to declare that ‘nou lekonomi y solid’. We were very far from the truth. While behind the scenes, the pillaging and siphoning off of funds were going on to reward the architects of the revolution; the people were being deceived into believing that all was well. Today, Rene, Mukesh, Sarah, Ramadoss, Savy brothers, Leopold Payet, and many others are living the lives of millionaires while the people of Seychelles return to poverty not known since the British days.

Michel was somehow voted in with another mandate (after spending millions of funds including our own social security reserves) and he declared arrogantly that he did not need the opposition to run the country. ‘Kile lopozisyon, les Jj travay!’ Now that the situation has turned on its head, Michel is out to deceive again. He wants unity; he is calling on every Tom, Dick and Francis to ‘Koste’ so that we can chart the course of a new Seychelles. He now needs everyone on board as it is in the interest of his own political survival. Michel cannot be trusted. He will manipulate any situation to his own advantage and has a total lack of sincerity. Who can trust a man who helped Rene gain power via a violent coup d’etat and then declared that his hands are clean? Who can trust a man who helped Rene and his cohorts to rob the country of billions of dollars while he was Minister of Finance? Who can trust a man who let Francis ChangLeng, the Central Bank of Seychelles Governor, steal millions from the State coffers?

Michel has now realized that things ‘on the ground’ are far worse than he feared. His closing address at the Bel Ombre meeting (which by the way was a gross abuse of state funded television air time) seemed like a desperate rallying call to all his dwindling middle leadership and supporters to double their efforts and reach out to the Lepep that they have lost touch with since his last election. The economic reforms are already the writing on the wall for the demise of Michel and his clan. A president who does not have much to do than to listen to problems in respective districts shows how much work he has on his agenda! He is perhaps slowly realizing how much he has lost touch with his people and how inefficient his government has become. As he tries to turn to the people to guide his leadership, he is confronted with problems, problems and more problems. From rubbish bins to basic lighting in districts, to an inefficient bus service and district administrators that work for their own pockets. Is this the future?

Another exercise to visit the districts soon? I don’t think so. He will be better off receiving dignitaries by the loads and try to look presidential… while waiting on the leader of the opposition to come along for tea so that he can weave his web of deception and try to come out as the leader who can unite the people of Seychelles.

James Michel lacks the intelligence, vision and integrity to take this country beyond party politics towards a healthy recovery for the benefit of our future generations. He is part of the stock that violated the constitution in 1977 and cannot preach democracy on a moral high ground. His grand exercise will always remain one of DECEPTION as he was part of the group that dismantled democracy in our country and replaced it with inefficiency, an impotent judiciary, and three decades of misery for its citizens. UNITY is beyond him and his legacy will always be one of a “deceptive thief in the night”.

Life's no beach for Sir James

By Fred Khumalo: Somewhat serious, somewhat fun

The founding president of Seychelles has not been lazing on an island since leaving office.

Fred Khumalo: What do presidents do once their terms in office have expired or, in the case of the despotic amongst their ranks, they have been deposed?

ON A MISSION: Sir James Mancham, left, would like the US to take a diplomatic interest in the scenic and, in his view, strategic island archipelago in the Indian Ocean and not allow China to dominate this tourist paradise

'We basically had a smiling, guitar-playing Seychellois under every palm tree. But when René took over, it was an AK47-wielding fighter under every palm tree'

In the latter case they usually flee to benign climes such as the south of France - a convenient hideaway which is within easy reach of Switzerland, where many of them would have stashed their ill-gotten riches while in office.

Others, in healthy democracies, start eponymous foundations that are not only protecting their legacy, but are also institutions whose raison d'être is to seek ways to further deepen democracy.

Here the names of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and others come to mind.

Sir James Mancham belongs to this club of former presidents.

But unlike the other former presidents he is neither lazing on the balmy beaches of France nor going around the world selling his own brand and interpretation of democracy under the aegis of an eponymous foundation.

In case you haven't heard of him - chances are you haven't as very little is known about his country - Sir James is the founding president of the Seychelles, an archipelago of 110 islands off the African coast in the Indian Ocean.

He led his native country to independence in 1976, and was in turn deposed by Marxists less than a year later, with the help of Tanzanian fighters.

Attempts to put him back into power - fuelled, it was reported, by the old South African government and spearheaded by the mercenary Mike Hoare - failed in 1978.

He then spent 15 years in exile.

"During my tenure, I actively sold our country as a tourist destination of choice," he told me during a recent interview when he was in South Africa promoting his latest book, Seychelles Global Citizen: The Autobiography of the Founding President of the Republic of Seychelles.

To sell his country he embarked on what came to be called "smiling PR" where the Seychellois were encouraged to extend a benevolent hand towards visitors to their islands.

"We basically had a smiling, guitar-playing Seychellois under every palm tree," he said, pausing enough to deliver the punch line: "But when René took over, it was an AK47-wielding fighter under every palm tree."

France-Albert René was the new president of the Marxist regime who deposed Mancham.

Almost 30 years later, Mancham is back to selling his country to the international community, not only as a tourist destination now but focusing on its strategic importance to the world's superpowers.

The islands are famous for natural beauty, and are the playing ground of the rich and famous. But very little is known of the region's politics and strategic importance in the world - and Mancham is on a mission to right that wrong.

During a conversation I had with him, in the book itself, and in a piece he has since written in the Washington Times, he is at pains to suggest - what, to me, comes across as a plea - that the bigger powers recolonise his country.

The fact that the Chinese have moved in gives him hope, but as an avowed anti-communist he wonders aloud why the US does not have diplomatic relations with his country, as evidenced by the fact that there is no US embassy in the Seychelles.

But you have to sympathise with and understand this intelligent man: in these days of piracy a country with a population of about 85000, a negligible army and a government still clinging to ill-defined Marxist economic theories has to be worried.

More importantly, in the newspaper piece that I referred to, he pointed out: "The growing competition for power and influence in the Indian Ocean, the world's primary energy and trade seaway, has certainly put the Seychelles at the centre of superpower rivalry, not unlike the position held by another island resort in the '50s more familiar to Americans than our nation - Cuba."

He continued: "While on the 'military basis' both the US and China could consider the situation 'balanced', the Chinese appear to be winning diplomatically.

"The Chinese are operating with full ambassadorial presence and are extremely active in day-to-day people-to-people diplomacy."

How I so wish that, even in retirement, or imposed repose as I call it, our African presidents would channel their energies towards building their countries rather than supping on sour grapes.

The Seychelles Column - By Christopher Gill

Mr. Seychelles Governor Sends Smoke Signals To Sell in Rupees Your Investments

The Seychelles Governor of the Central Bank has been at it again. This time, he has brought the financial markets and economy of Seychelles to a lop-sided position that would make Humpty-Dumpty look like a Playgirl centre fold. As the Seychelles Rupee is now stronger than a Euro in real terms and it is also beating the US Dollar to death week after week, month after month, investors must read the smoke signal Mr. Governor is sending, or be consumed in the campfire next year when we must start to service our debts and finance elections.

Strong Rupee Means Sell In Rupees

The strong Seychelles Rupee with prospects of convertibility on the horizon mean individual Seychellois who have held properties in the past waiting for Euro or US Dollar sales, can now sell in Seychelles Rupee and convert the transaction at the bank, and have their investment repatriated overseas to Australia, if that is where they are going.

All indications point to Australia, where they have discovered natural gas rivalling Qatar ‘s holdings. The time to cut your loses under LP is now, or stick it out for change.

If you stick it out for change, you cannot just do business and stay quiet, you will have to become a molecule in the fuel for change. I have chosen to be a molecule for change. SPPF and LP have devalued my holdings just by being around and not giving Seychellois with strong economic potential a fair chance when placed in the market with select foreigners that have had to grace their entry with a little here and a little there.

But like many Seychellois, I live off salted fish and fresh grilled mackerel with great pleasure and satisfaction. A little lentils is considered a luxury, since the lentils boat is always stuck in Dar es Salaam.

From Down Under to the Equator

Over 30,000 Seychellois reside in Australia. What effort has LP made to ask them and the other Seychellois overseas to return to Seychelles in a meaningful way? They could easily replace your 9,400 GOP workers and meet the demand for another 10,000 in time. Even if they come here 6 months per year to contribute to the Country it would be a great benefit. Instead, it was announced with great fanfare last night on TV that the Australian High Commissioner (Ms. Cathy Johnstone) is providing us with a technical advisor (Dr. Bryn Battersby) from its own treasury down-under. I assume the Australian Treasury is doing very well indeed. And of course our own Finance Minister Faure was at a loss for words for this grateful contribution since our own Ministry of Finance is in great need of western-trained experts as all we have are Cuban-trained ones from the Rene and Michel’s era. Of course, a few million Aussie dollars would have been better for our economy, but then, beggars cannot be choosers. How ironic that our own countrymen are leaving our shores for Australia, and here we have Australians flocking to our shores in search of greener pastures? I wonder if it’s the lucrative expatriate salaries that are attracting tax men, financial advisors, customs officers from down-under to our shores. Some say it’s our beautiful local girls too, but our smart ones are still emigrating to Australia as I write while the remainder are turning to prostitution and drugs!

Seychellois who stay benefit

Seychellois that have the courage to remain behind and take the blows that will be delivered by Mr. Laporte for the duration of his contract and if renewed, will benefit from this freak event in the markets (Seychelles Rupee gaining on Euro). They will be able to borrow Seychelles Rupees from banks and convert the Seychelles Rupees to an asset that will maintain hard currency values over the long term as the non-sustainability of the Seychelles external debt takes hold of our financial jugular veins. Property will be safe only after the financial and political storm settles.

Build Local Industry

In these ever turbulent times, investors staying in Seychelles permanently may want to consider investing in local industry. I know one gentleman producing coconut oil and he is doing very well. The retail side of this business is highly profitable if the product is sold as an exclusive tanning product.

Another friend is investing in vanilla plantation. He has brought in 3 ton trucks, excavators and will employ Malagasy personnel to plant and maintain the vanilla plants. Incubation period for this venture is 3 years. After, he expects huge profits that will rival returns of 5 star hotels. All is not lost. But you will have to put your back into whatever you do and you will have to watch your back if LP is around. They smell success from over the mountains and they rush in to penalize it and eventually destroy it. Vanilla is a little like diamonds. You can carry your asset out of the country or place it in a few boxes and ship it as luggage. Enough boxes, you can use the money from the sales to buy a house and start a business elsewhere if things go really bad in Seychelles. Mango farm in Australia anyone?

The days of picking Euros off the beach are over. Now under Mr Governor’s economic financial guidance, Euros are worth less than they were 6 months ago: about 40% less. Incredible. Who else could defy World trends? Perhaps Mr. ChangLeng who is enjoying the fruits of retirement and living like a King while we toil to pay his pension.

Rupees Valuable Hence Local Crime Increases

As Seychelles Rupee gain great value, crime that has the objective of securing Seychelles Rupees will increase. This will affect ill-prepared residents. Since the Black Market is no longer on the beaches, drug addicts no longer have an avenue in which to obtain money quickly. They will now resort to attacks and burglaries to meet demands of a habit. Local law enforcement must be aware of this development.

Mr. Laporte must know what impact the great imbalances will have on a society not prepared to cope with such unpredictability in the money markets created by himself.

After all, if you did not know, in a society, especially small ones like Seychelles, everything happens to be connected and inter-related.

Yes, somehow… what is concocted in those leatherette chairs in the CBS glass building, does have a profound impact on people’s lives, be it good or bad. Unfortunately, so far, it has been bad, and our international credit rating proves it.

May God Bless Seychelles and All Freedom Loving Seychellois!

Seychelles Comedy - State House Anytime Now

Situation at State House has been growing restless. The President has been frustrated over Patrick Pillay’s resignation, and cocktail accusations of corruption. After getting nothing out of the African Union, and being placed next to Mugabe, and the SADC group wants Seychelles to remove trades tax to allow goods to freely flow, Mr. President feels burnt in Africa. He wants the fame and fan fare that Mancham enjoys, breakfast with the Press Club in DC, lunch with the Washington Post , meetings with top US people and leaders.

JenPa: Good morning Mr. President, as you have placed yourself as Foreign Minister and you have left me out of the picture by moving Barry Faure in as Principal Secretary, what role do you envision for my smart self sir?

Mr. President: Ah JP, do not take it too badly. I am not sending you packing my boy, you will always carry my bags. So every time I travel, you will have a 5 star room right next door to me. Every time we arrive in Abu Dhabi and we are received in an Oldsmobile Delta 88 stretch limo, you will be there next to me. I need you to write letters for me. Like that nasty little letter you wrote Mathew Servina a few weeks ago.

JenPa: Yes of course Sir, I understand. You need the light to shine on you a bit, to prop your self up and look statesmanlike....or like Mancham our First President.

Mr. President: Yes you are dead on JP, I need to look like a statesman with qualifications of course, which is why I demanded that I be named Chancellor of the University of Seychelles. Now I don’t have to earn a degree, I can of course just give myself one. As I give myself the University of Seychelles degree, I will automatically get a University of London Degree like Philippe Boulle. There, I have outsmarted, even the smartest on the Seychelles Bar! How do you like that JP?

JenPa: What about this Gill who is also a lawyer? He seems to always outsmart us. He now does a blog with other smart people, and they send it out to thousands of people each week. They work off googles engine and puff Mr. President, an opposition in cyberspace and it cost them nothing. Not a penny to attack you and our grand party Lepep, and they even draw funny cartoons of Sosis and the old Barbaron Master.

Mr. President: Well JP my smart SOS, there is irony in everything. In fact, it was the blog cartoon of me going to the moon that made me want to finally take the big leap into Foreign Affairs. I want to be where it’s happening like Mancham. Along the way, I will have you by my side.

JenPa: What if Ramkalawan takes the Country?

Mr. President: Don’t worry JP, you are young indeed. You are a better swimmer than survivor. In this game, it is about survival, in luxury of course. Look my friend, do you not attend these district meetings, we have too many gutters to clean, to keep them clean, too many bins to empty, to keep them emptied, too many passengers and not enough buses, too many seats on Air Seychelles to fill, too many students to school and train to educate, too many people to keep healthy. We are finished JP, I feel sorry for you and your generation. Your lives, and all LP Youth will be hell. Ton Albert and me have skimmed all the fat and sucked all the milk that can be sucked. The only thing left now is 18000 drug addict and alcoholics, and ladies asking for better pay, better housing, better buses, better MNA, better Ministers, and yes, a better President. Our university has more titles than degree courses offered. We have taken over polytechnic like Gill said we should instead of building a university on reclaimed land with speed boat access like Dr. Rolph (in two weeks) proposed. We are going fast my boy. Our only hope is the deep blue skies of Foreign Affairs with a little help from Mancham if I can get it.

JenPa: So you mean we will travel until we die, Sir?

Mr. President: Only if we are lucky JP!

JenPa: Oh goodie, I don’t have to write to Mathew Servina, and I don’t have to meet people from the Districts. I can live on Facebook. Yeep Yeep!

Mr. President: Your glass is not full yet JP!

The Seychelles Column - By Christopher Gill

Mr. Governor Takes Us On Deep Dive Down

The Seychelles Governor of the Central Bank Mr. Pierre Laporte has been pre-occupied with making hotel establishments display Seychelles Rupee pricing. He has been vigorously implementing legislation, sending out published notices in the Nation newspaper, to direct the earners of hard currency how to participate in the economy. He even gave us a deadline.

Mr. Laporte’s attempt to legislate confidence in the Seychelles Rupee, also has a stiff cash penalty and term of imprisonment for non-compliance. That should get everyone to shake in their boots.

He could not have chosen a worse time to threaten the Public and the Tourism Trade with prison sentences, when the Judiciary has only one (1) magistrate, after six(6) resigned for want of better pay. An average drug charge can take ten (10) years to get to trial these days, according to those in the know. It will get worse if Finance does not come up with a lot of money fast.

Euro Strong on the World Market, but Weak In Seychelles Only

Under Mr. Laporte’s “hocus-pocus” central banking, the Euro is weak in Seychelles, and getting weaker everyday. Currently in the world, the Euro is enjoying an all time high against the Pound Sterling, against the US Dollar and against almost every other convertible currency on Earth.

In Seychelles, the Euro has lost over 40% of its value since Pierre Laporte started to implement his “hocus-pocus” banking polices. Since devaluation of the Seychelles Rupee last year, the Seychelles Rupee traded as high as 22.00 – 1.00 Euro. Now, it is trading as low as 13.00 – 1.0 Euro. Remarkable success for a country whose GDP is (minus) -25% for the same period. We are truly living in “Another World”!

How does Mr. Laporte pull off such miracles with the system? Divine intervention maybe?

Seychelles Not Paying Debt

A small part of the answer is that Seychelles is not paying its unsustainable debts. It has a moratorium on all its debts bilateral, multilateral, commercial, until January 2011. At that time, we will have to pay debts. It will be very painful for about Fifteen (15) years. Mr. Laporte has built up 2 months reserve of about $100 Million, which will be used in part to service debts. The President says it is for rice in emergencies. Well, we are in an emergency now and it is not for rice, try Seychelles Rupees. The people have none.

But the answer is more complicated than that.

Pierre Laporte’s Plan was focused on Inflation Primarily

The reason why we are in an economic grave hole, is that Pierre Laporte’s prognosis for our economic woes focused primarily on inflation fighting by empowering the Seychelles Rupee. He has been successful at that. Initially, after devaluation last year, Reuters reported Inflation in Seychelles reached 78%. Most recently, as the Seychelles Rupee built up muscle, inflation now stands at 31%, but still second highest in Africa. To get an idea how bad the Seychelles has been managed, we are second only to Zimbabwe. Frightful thought indeed.

Now he has proposed to buy up Euros and US Dollars from commercial banks to stabilize the rates. Of course, this a great way for Central Bank of Seychelles to buy foreign currency on the cheap seeing the Seychellois people have no rupees left to buy currency from the commercial banks, let alone rupees to buy food. All this is good and normal, but it is not enough. I hope Mr. Laporte will not be travelling over the next 60 days.

What He Did Not Do

What Pierre Laporte did not do while he sat in his leather chair at the Central Bank and plot the countries recovery is establish an early program to ensure that liquidity in the market was preserved to foster economic stimuli and activity. He ignored that and admits in the Sunday evening news, he was relying on the “good morals of bankers to do the right thing”.

Since when do central bankers rely on the good morals of bankers to run the economy? For that matter, the good morals of anyone? Did Mr. Laporte rely on the good morals of the Tourism Trade to establish confidence in the Seychelles Rupee? No, he legislated it, however improper it was. But why is Mr. Laporte treating the biggest profit centres in Seychelles, the banks ,like a club of toddlers who need a baby sitter?

What Mr. Laporte has not done, and he better do it fast, is establish a global banking standard in Seychelles instead of letting the commercial banks run amok like they are currently doing at the detriment of the Seychellois business community. Banks, lest we forget, are those little institutions that are in the business of earning money at small amounts at a time in the form of reasonable interests rates, and reasonable commissions, for money related transactions that make the economy of a country run efficiently and hence allow it to prosper and grow.

Banks must not be in the LOAN-SHARKING business, or in the business of charging exaggerated fees and interest, that go beyond what is acceptable trade practice in the industry. Not just in Seychelles, but in the entire World. After all, banks in Seychelles enjoy a sort of cartel. Hence, they cannot be the standard of proper banking business practice. And let us not forget that the Seychelles Government also operates 3 banks in Nouvobanq, Development Bank of Seychelles and the Seychelles Savings Bank!

Exxagerated Commissions or Simply Robbing The Seychellois Customer?

Where in the world does a bank buy a British Pound for SR 15.05, and then turn around and sell it at SR 19.25 rupees, making a SR 4.20 gain or 28% profit in less than a minute? Where in the world does a bank sell a US Dollar for SR 9.30 and then turn around and sell the same for SR 11.98, making a SR 2.68 profit or a 29% profit?

But tell us where in the world, other than Seychelles, can a bank send a wire transfer of Euro 100,000 and make a profit of SR 311,350? Yes, Mr. Laporte, that is THREE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEYCHELLES RUPEES profit, plus of course additional wire transfer fees to boot? That amount is more than what most Seychelles businesses make as a net profit in an entire year!

And while Mr. Laporte wants to put local hoteliers in jail for not following Central Bank’s par rates, the commercial banks are free to gouge their customers to financial oblivion! And Mr. Laporte has even suggested that if hotels don’t like it, they can apply to become an official money changer through a Bureau De Change. Pity the small guest houses and small hotels that will now be burdened with another license fee and running a bureau de change in order to satisfy their guests who simply want to pay their bills!

So, it is now up to Mr. Laporte to set the parameters for the commercial banks in Seychelles. That is his job. If he needs help, I volunteer my knowledge, free of charge, to get it right. Seychelles cannot afford to stay indefinitely on the wrong track. If we do, even Mr. Laporte will want a seat on Tiger Airways flight from Singapore to Perth, Australia.

What Is Wrong With Our System

Interest rates are not controlled or subjected to any controls. Banks and for that matter, any one with a license, can charge any interest rate they choose. Interest rates can mercilessly be compounded monthly under Seychelles laws or lack thereof.

This is a medieval business practice found in the days of King Arthur, the Patriarch of the Kingdom of England. If we are a civilized society, banks must come to the table all trimmed out and proper.

We must set limits to prime rates of interest and additional interest charged for risk analysis. Banks must then start working within those margins. After all that is what banks do. This will encourage them to lend more and spread their lending and business base; as opposed to restrict their lending base to 1.PUC, 2.Seybrew, 3. SEPEC, 4. Cable and Wireless, 5. SPTC.

The wider the base for loans is spread, the more penetration and impact money will have in the economy. It will be a critical tool to remove us from this stagflation status we are now living under.

But banks must direct capital to solid partners as well, and not toss their reserves to every one and anyone that has an idea, albeit a bad one.

As money circulates, and properties are placed as mortgages in real terms, then citizens will become active participants in the economy in a meaningful way. And more responsible citizens too.

Government must allow properties to be marketable to enrich its citizens. This means it will have to get rid of the “Gardette Law”, “no construction at or above 50 meter topography”, found on Praslin and La Digue. This type of policy is a disincentive towards economic prosperity. If we are to watch every fruit bat pass by as an economic principle, then SPPF-LP must say so. Then we will judge who is the fruit bat, or sick-bat!

I remember the quote in a meeting not so long ago where one smart intelligent businessman was explaining to an idiot about the fundamentals of business (without having to steal from his neighbour that is): “You cannot promote growth and restrict it at the same time”. The idiot of course answered: “Yes We Can”! Maybe he was an Obama groupie!

Why Spread The Access To Loans

Because that is what banks are suppose to do. Make money available and not hoard it. Banks must make reasonable profits from involving others, and this fosters greater stability. When banks restrict access to funds unreasonably, banks in turn foster greater instability themselves. In fact, they will be in a big way, responsible for high risk they assess to borrowers when they say Seychelles is a high risk lending jurisdiction, hence the 10%-15% clip above what should be charged for lending fees.

Now that we are in a stagflation-depression, our Rupee is mighty again, hotels are cutting costs, freezing hiring, unemployment will rise, occupancy rates will drop further, total receivables will drop further than -25% as Seychelles will structurally get more expensive then any 5 star investor ever imagined, to the point that goods in warehouses will rot, the public will suffer greatly. I ask Mr. Laporte and the LP, wake up and seek a second opinion my friends, for you have made a royal mess of an ordinary communist mess.

I suggest you provide the business community a few seats on your board Mr. Laporte. Then make the Central Bank Governor present bi-annual plans to the board. Once approved, implement. If a crisis arises, call for an emergency meeting and resolve the matter. But do get a bit more serious over the affairs of our economy because we are now in a truly royal mess.

That means we are in a royal communist mess......nothing moderate about that, huh!

May God Bless Seychelles and All Freedom Loving Seychellois!

BOOK REVIEW: A man for all regions - By Lelei Lelaulu

SEYCHELLES GLOBAL CITIZEN: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE FOUNDING PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLES

By James R. Mancham

Paragon House, $24.95, 352 pages

Reviewed by Lelei Lelaulu

Generally, after distinguished careers, internationally recognized political leaders from the developing world descend gently into well-deserved rest from the strobe lights of the politico-paparazzi. Sir James R. Mancham, K.B.E., is an intriguing exception. His helmsmanship of the Republic of Seychelles, a tiny group of islands off the African coast in the Indian Ocean, was rudely shortened by a violent coup that ended democracy on the tiny island nation.

Undeterred by the brutality of the Tanzanian-supported coup on his isolated archipelago, Mr. Mancham, traveling in other regions, plied his "smiling philosophy" of dignifying the views of political opponents, gaining the respect of leaders in the nongovernment firmament.

In his accounts of negotiations to gain independence from London, Mr. Mancham details a litany of encounters with duplicitous British officials who could have populated a lesser John le Carre novel of bungling and betrayal by the guardians of the Establishment.

Mr. Mancham, who originally pushed for integration with Britain, soon realized colonizers could not be relied on and were even downright deceitful dealing with their charges. He writes, "[T]he word 'colonialism' had become synonymous with oppression, injustice and brutal exploitation."

Even when the Union Jack was lowered for the last time in the capital Victoria during the independence celebrations in June 1976, the first Seychellois president looked out to the harbor at warships assembled to respect the new nation from India, Australia and Iran. He rued that there was "not a single name from that never-ending list which constituted the Falkland Islands invasion armada."

Educated in London and Paris by parents of Chinese-French extraction who wanted their bright son to be "a man of letters and culture," Mr. Mancham did return as a Middle Temple-anointed barrister, but he used his legal training to enter the political arena with calls to repeal laws such as one protecting the "almost feudal privileges of the island's planters which made it an offence for an ordinary Seychellois citizen to be in possession of a coconut without a written permit."

It was also at the time when nationalist fervor in Africa had been excited by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's "winds of change" speech committing London to the dismantling of its empire as quickly as possible. Mr. Mancham wryly suggests decolonization was Whitehall's way of preparing the United Kingdom for entry to the European Union.

However, the colonial practice of divide and rule, the denuding of resources and the dumping of territories accelerated as spent colonies were ejected from the chilly bosom of Whitehall. And, without adequate training and appropriate aid, former colonies descended into civil strife and dictatorships.

Looking across the English Channel didn't help, as Mr. Mancham was subjected to the perfidy of a Paris trying to wrench cultural dominance from the English, who vanquished them in battles for control of the islands in the 19th century. In fact, it's a wonder Mr. Mancham didn't swoon into the welcoming arms of the Soviets after his subjection to the double-dealing of Paris and London.

When you grow up in a colony, it is hard to think of any Big Power initiative that was based on altruism. Indeed, when London and Washington acceded to Mr. Mancham's push for an international airport, it was clear the oil-consuming West needed an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" like the powerful U.S. base in neighboring Diego Garcia to monitor and protect the oil lanes. So, the Seychelles got an airport big enough to land military aircraft, and the airliners bearing high-end tourists and their tourism dollars.

Mr. Mancham noted the base was moved to Diego Garcia instead of another preferred island because of a small colony of booby birds. There were, however, no displayed qualms when the native human inhabitants of Diego Garcia were removed to make way for the fortress.

After the start of his forced exile, Mr. Mancham started to really play on the international stage. At the Universal Peace Federation, he was thrust into the international limelight in New York alongside the likes of former Prime Minister Edward Heath, former Secretary of State Alexander Haig and other luminaries. He joined the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, which placed him in the company of religious leaders of diverse faiths and regions.

His wanderlust contributed to his political ouster, and the coup leaders used his many absences as excuses for toppling Mr. Mancham, but through his exposure to other lands, he was also able to see that without aid from the colonial governments, the best way to generate income was through their citizens' desire to travel to faraway islands.

Ignoring the colonial masters, he went to the people. Recognizing tourism as the largest voluntary transfer of resources from the colonizers to their ex-colonies in history, it was only a matter of time before British and French tourists were taking and leaving in the Seychelles more money than their governments gave in aid.

So, yes, Mr. Mancham had a taste for the sweet, fast life, trotting the globe in style, watering with the jet set, but he also almost singlehandedly lured the high-spending glitterati of the early 1970s to the Seychelles. And, as we know, where celebrities go, so go the paparazzi, whose pictures of half-naked celebs and royals relaxing on beaches beamed around the world - priceless branding gifts for unknown destinations.

It wasn't long before the seductive charms of the Indian Ocean island nation of some 85,000 souls was drawing 75,000 tourists a year to the airport that Mr. Mancham built. He put the Seychelles on the world tourism map at its richest layer where well-healed elites stay longer and spend more money.

Mr. Mancham is the father of his country, and with his superb PR skills, he transformed an obscure backwater into a destination synonymous with the good life. Because of that, he bequeathed to the Seychelles tourism-generated income far beyond what even the most benevolent former colonizer could have offered. And he did so by energetically and skillfully being a man for his nation in all regions.

Lelei LeLaulu writes on the linkages between development, climate change, conservation and food security for the Development Executive Group.