President Ramkalawan meets with Seychellois diaspora in London Coronation honour
By Lewis Betsy
I was privileged to be invited to a reception that President Ramkalawan hosted in London, shortly before he attended the Coronation of King Charles at Westminster Abbey.
It was an occasion not to be missed and the President, who was accompanied by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, met up with many members of the Seychellois community in the UK.
It’s been a long time since the diaspora had an event of this kind and there were more than 150 Seychellois, living, studying or working in the UK, on the guest list.
Also present were four members of the Seychelles Defence Forces who were to take part in the Coronation Parade.
The reception, smoothly organised by the Seychelles High Commission, went very well and I want to say “thank you” to the Acting Commissioner Patsy Moustache and Office Manager Fanchette Powell, on behalf of all the invited guests.
True, there were some complaints on Facebook concerning the invitations, but I reckon the High Commission had to make some decisions on these, knowing they wouldn’t be able to please everyone.
Earlier, the President had given an interview to the BBC flagship TV Programme HARDtalk hosted by Stephen Sackur. He was quizzed on a wide range of topics, among them the terrible drugs problem in Seychelles, climate change, tourism and corruption.
The President and First Lady also attended other prestige events including one for Commonwealth Leaders hosted by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland.
It was there, President Ramkalawan met King Charles and had the opportunity to congratulate him personally.
All in all, the President’s visit on such a massive occasion was truly memorable and I felt honoured to be part of it.
