The four-member Advisory Council to the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS) yesterday morning received their instrument of appointment from President Wavel Ramkalawan, in a short ceremony at State House.
The members of the Advisory Council were appointed by President Ramkalawan in accordance with Section 10 of the Anti Corruption Commission Act, following recommendations of the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA) and subsequently a series of intense interviews.
The chairperson of the Advisory Council Bernard Pool, along with its other members Angelique Antat, Damien Thesee and Dyanne Azemia, were presented with their instrument of appointment by the President in the presence of Vice- President Ahmed Afif, the chairperson of the Constitutional Appointments Authority (CAA) Michel Felix and members of the authority, secretary of state for Cabinet Affairs Mohammed Afif and Commissioner of the ACCS May De Silva.
Addressing the newly appointed council members, President Ramkalawan congratulated them and expressed his wishes to have high standards within the organisation and for it to deliver on the nation’s expectations with regards to tackling corruption.
“I am sure that you will fulfil the responsibilities that have been assigned to you. You can rest assured of the support of the government. Among the responsibilities that the Advisory Council will have is to review the policies of the administration, as well as review the laws that will help to fight against corruption. I want to make it clear that there is still corruption in Seychelles,” said the President.
“But the question now is action. Our population has great expectations and I have expectations. Since the formation of the ACCS in March 2016, I don’t think I am lying if I say our people are disappointed, because they are expecting certain concrete actions. Therefore, today is the appropriate moment for me to tell the Advisory Council and the Commissioner, that we need to step up the game. We need to step up and take concrete actions so the funds belonging to this nation will return to them,” President Ramkalawan stressed.
President Ramkalawan went on to highlight various situations where he said corruption is suspected and called out to the commission to “help the country, help the Seychellois nation to acquire some of the lost funds, to get back some of the properties acquired through corruption” and to help eliminate corruption once and for all.
Chairperson Pool, as a retired accountant, said he has a lot to offer to assist the commission in tackling corruption in the country. Among its main priorities, the council expects to review and recognise the provisions of the law for the prevention of corruption and to make recommendations to the President for their effective implementation.
“Our role as the Advisory Council is not to handle cases. We are behind the commission to ensure that it has the necessary resources to carry on with its duties, as well as having oversight to ensure it is discharging its functions. As the council, we are not involved with who or what is prosecuted or not,” Mr Pool clarified.
Considering the changes within the commission recently, Commissioner May De Silva stated that the public can, in the coming weeks, expect some developments in terms of corruption cases brought to the Court by the commission.
She said the commission is presently working on acquiring its own prosecutor to help handle the workload and build strong cases.
“We need to ensure that when we are taking a matter to Court, the evidence is solid. We know that we are delivering and we are working. The public will soon see that we are working on conference cases with the Attorney General, on cases that we have brought before them and soon some individuals will be charged,” Mrs De Silva noted.
Source: Seychelles Nation