Africa-Press – Mauritius. Dear fellow countrymen and countrywomen, I have been following the whole BAI saga since it all started. I suggest we should undertake a fact finding video by collating data and put it in the public domain.
It should cover the following: (a) Paul Berenger’s PNQ and the response from Xavier-Luc Duval at that time. (b) Inspection reports from Bank of Mauritius on Bramer Bank.
(c) What was said on that day when they decided to revoke Bramer’s licence?
(d) Bring back all the press conferences held by present and ex-ministers Re: Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo, Roshi Bhadain, Xavier-Luc Duval and others since January 2015 to date.
(e) It should also cover the discussions and exchanges which have taken place in the Parliament. Then, leave it to the population to decide who is to be blamed and who is telling the truth.
If we can’t do this, then we will leave this generation and the next one with scars and an ugly legacy. The truth must be known this year and this BAI saga should be put to bed for once and for all. The culprits should be dealt with accordingly.
More importantly, with a view to ascertain and confirm if the BAI business was a Ponzi scheme, we need to seek the assistance from the Financial Conduct Authority or the Serious Fraud Office in England to carry out a deep investigation and confirm to the nation if BAI was a Ponzi or not.
My rationale is simple. We don’t question our exams results obtained from SC and HSC exams which are prepared and marked by Cambridge. We don’t question the SC results obtained by somebody who has studied at the International College in Triolet or somebody from Royal College of Port-louis simply because we respect and trust Cambridge University.
For instance, an A in Maths awarded by Cambridge University to our SC & HSC students is an A full stop across all schools simply because the exams board is Cambridge.
Just think for one moment if we bring a change (exams prep and marking) to our SC and HSC exams in Mauritius, I am sure with all the leaks and family connections, the grades would be questionable.
Please don’t ever contemplate to go that route as this is the only institution left in Mauritius which is unanimously respected and which has, in fact, shaped up the future of fellow Mauritians in securing jobs or pursuing further studies.
As much as we believe we should do many things ourselves as a nation, I still believe, in view of the fact that everybody is somehow related to somebody else by way of family ties, religion or friendship or we keep questioning the integrity of the person heading some key institutions, both regulatory, like the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and commercial, such as Air Mauritius, that we should entrust certain aspects of the decision making process to professionals from England or some Scandinavian countries so that we don’t question their decisions.
It will be neutral without any political intervention or favouritism based on religion, family connections, etc. Just imagine having an expert from US or UK heading the Independent Commission against Corruption, the FSC or even the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).
We have all witnessed and experienced for the past 30 years, the failures of political appointees who have led institutions such as Air Mauritius, MBC, Mauritius Housing Corporation, etc.
By appointing independent professionals from countries such as England, France, Norway or Sweden, our perception of their decisions will be the same as we do with the results published by Cambridge University.
Please don’t use the hiring costs as an excuse. In fact, the trust, good governance and the savings will offset the hiring costs. It’s a real shame that fellow Mauritians who have had the privileges of studying in countries such as England or France don’t raise the standard when they head institutions in Mauritius.
Even the Speaker of the National Assembly should be sourced from England or from least corrupt nations (Canada, Luxembourg, Netherland, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand and Denmark).
We will benefit from an independent person who will elevate the debate with high standards of spoken English. The level of the English language in our national assembly is very appalling.
Our members of Parliament (MPs) should not see our National Assembly as just a local forum but instead as an international arena to advance intellectual arguments using high standards of Parliamentary language and also to observe professional body languages.
I ask my MPs to watch the debates in the House of Commons, the way select committees are conducted in England and if they can also try and watch the program Question Time by David Dimbleby on Thursdays.
They will learn a lot on how to respond and keep their composure. I am very sorry to say the standard of English and the pronunciation is very mediocre in the National Assembly.
The world has changed with the advent of the internet. Somebody who lives in Fond-du-Sac will see the same information on Google just like somebody living in London and New York.
Please don’t use the argument that this is Mauritius and therefore this is how we do things here. We can work locally but think globally. This is why we build airports which meet international standards.
We should refrain from cutting corners as we experienced in the Terre-Rouge–Verdun project. We can’t build roads using poor structure and material. The way our MPs should perceive their presence and behaviour in the National Assembly is to pretend they are attending a big board meeting in a Plcs (Mauritius Plcs).
They should see Mauritius plc in front of them and by applying a corporate analogy, they should embark on the following agenda on Tuesdays: Strategy to improve the P&L: top line and bottom line.
How do we increase GDP and bring more tax receipts ( putting more people in jobs, exporting more goods, diversifying our portfolio etc. ) to the state of Mauritius so that they can be used to further improve public services across the whole island.
How to improve the B-sheet. Good balance Sheet controls and quality assets and liabilities. How to improve the Balance of Trade, the Current A/c etc. How to strengthen financial controls with a view to secure and protect the state’s belongings.
We should know what each MP is bringing to the debate and how much value they have added to the Financial statements (using a corporate analogy). Without doubt if someone is on the board of directors of CIEL Group or MCB Group and does not add any value to the meeting, he or she will be kicked out.
This is how the National Assembly should conduct its affairs week in and week out. MPs should justify their remunerations and other allowances. Let’s have an independent body scoring our MPs performances each week.
The score will be based on their conduct in the Parliament, work carried out on the ground, debates they have been involved and the writings in any publications. Let’s make sure our MPs are earning their money and not making money. Here is the truth what has happened in the political arena since 2014.
L’alliance Lepep has been formed with a good number of people who have never had the experience either working at senior levels in big corporations or had exposure to the running of government departments or ministries. Some of them were not even expected to get elected.
As a result of the lack of exposure and experience, the population has now witnessed and uncovered weaknesses and serious incompetencies from the government bench despite benefiting from all the perks associated with the post.
The solution is simple. Each political party should have a solid shadow cabinet where each MP is entrusted a shadow ministry and becomes the spokesperson.
The MP should be participating in debates, questioning the government decisions with facts and more importantly advancing credible suggestions. They should be seen in newspaper columns writing good piece of articles how they will change life for the better of all Mauritians.
Cheap politics should be history now in Mauritius. Gone are the days where we can fool the population as we all have been duped since Independence in one way or another.
Whoever is embarking in politics should remember that people travel the world these days and with the internet, people will verify information very easily.
So we better speak the truth. We should stop mixing religion and politics. Religion should be private. Mauritius belongs to everybody and no race, religion or group of people owns Mauritius.
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