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By Lewis Betsy  The scandal of what is happening with the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission is an outrageous insult to the people of Seychelles. In his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramkalawan referred to the TRNUC, but he never offered anything serious or concrete concerning what would happen to the victims. I had previously warned that the Commission looked doomed to fail.  Yet it must not fail. The Government must not let the victims down. The truth is that the TRNUC has become a joke for the LDS Government. They are playing politics with it and applying a delaying tactics strategy with the victims.  The time has come to say enough is enough. My case number is No 2 and I am sure by now the Government must have had an idea where mine and all the many other cases were heading. It is not that difficult. We simply want justice and compensation for all the hurt we have suffered since 1977.  Naturally, we need answers to achieve closure.  In the meantime, we are forced to wait and trauma continues to impact families. Those that decided to stay in Seychelles have also suffered, but it was their choice not to bring their cases to the TRNUC.  It appears there is a blame culture going on: We are not children of Seychelles now because we brought our cases to the TRNUC. However, the suffering goes on for all.. For some victims it is too late. They have died with no answers forthcoming. So I ask: Where are the lists and names of the perpetrators? Why is the President keeping the lists from us? Is he protecting someone? Of the few perpetrators who came to the TRNUC, only five or six of them publicly said sorry for what they had done. And that was it. I note that many other known perpetrators are out and about in town, mixing freely with the public. It has become a sick joke and we, the victims, are suffering. The fact is I believe the TRNUC has become such a shambles that no one wants to deal with it. The LDS have the power they want and are cynically running the country without a care in the world. They have no sense of responsibility or duty. The LDS government is trying to wash its hands when it comes to paying the victims – though I see that they managed to find the money to pay all the Commissioners.  Yet who set up this scenario in the first place? It was Ramkalawan and former President Danny Faure. Timing is all, of course, and there are elections next year. We’ve got to watch it, or LDS might use the victims again to get another term in office. The more you think about the issue the more it makes you sick. How on Earth are we ever going to achieve unity in Seychelles when this situation persists?
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Hope: Lewis Betsy meets President Danny Faure at State House on 16th March 2017 to discuss unity.
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How we all love Seychelles... as we showed at our fabulous Independence Day party

9th July 2015

Outstanding: The famous Cascade Sega Dancers in full flow
Outstanding: The famous Cascade Sega Dancers in full flow

The Independence Day party was another great success for Seychelles Life and the Kevin Betsy Foundation.

Guests celebrated 39 years of Seychelles Independence in style in London on Saturday 4th July.

Seychellois as well as revellers from all over the world enjoyed the glorious summer evening with Seychelles music by Ken London, Rita Romain (Richez), DJ’s Rudy, Moulinie and Pierre Labiche.

On song: Rita Romain (Richez) and Ken London put on a great show
On song: Rita Romain (Richez) and Ken London put on a great show

To add to the entertainment, the famous Cascade Sega Dancers put on an outstanding performance.

It was a great night for Love Seychelles and once again we feel we’ve done our small islands proud.

The event was a chance for the Seychellois community in London to get together for a delightful evening with friendships made and renewed. As organisers, we felt we had got it right by the encouragement given us throughout the evening.

Going with the beat: Guests get up and dance
Going with the beat: Guests get up and dance

Kevin Betsy spoke about the work of his Foundation and explained that he is doing his utmost to promote the standard of football in Seychelles. During his last visit to the Seychelles he donated football shirts and footballs to the young players.

We now have more football shirts to take out to the Indian Ocean and I will deliver them on my next visit.

Of course, we cannot put on super events like these alone. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Seychelles High Commission and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), especially Mrs Lena Hoareau, for their support and cooperation in making the evening such a success.

Thanks too, to John Davies from Woking News and Mail who sponsored the event. And I am indebted to the photographer Marlon and his team from Koz Kreole.

Joint venture: Kevin Betsy with his father Lewis
Joint venture: Kevin Betsy with his father Lewis

I thought the raffle prizes were fantastic. Seychelles Life and the Kevin Betsy Foundation are immensely grateful to everyone who gave so generously and the list is below.

My biggest thanks though go to all of you who turned up on the night and made it such a wonderful occasion.

So how do you follow that? Well, the next stage for Seychelles Life is to get the Seychellois Diaspora closer together. I find it hard to handle that we all live so far apart. We need to get closer together and hopefully we can improve the harmony, unity and joie de vivre in our society for the love of our beautiful Seychelles.

Next year we will celebrate 40 years of Seychelles independence and we plan an even bigger party so please watch this space.

So, once again. Many thanks to everyone for your support. We love Seychelles. We really do.

Lewis Betsy

Publisher

Seychelles Life

* Lewis Betsy is Publisher of Seychelleslife.co.uk

 

Raffle prizes and donors:

1. Two tickets to any Fulham home Championship game at Craven Cottage.

2. A signed Fulham shirt.

3. Bottle of Champagne donated by Juliana Betsy.

4. 5, 6. Pack Bottles of Special Ales donated by John Davies, Woking News and Mail.

7. Bottle of Takamaka Rum donated by STB (Seychelles Tourism Board).

8. 9 ,10,11. Two  Small Bottles of Takamaka Rum donated by STB (Seychelles Tourism Board).

12, 13. Seychelles Book (Seychelles The Coco-de-Mer – A National Treasure).

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