25 years ago at the dawn of the 5th of June, Seychelles took a new turn for a new destiny. It was one year since we had attained independence and it was clear that we would not change the way Seychelles was heading without taking drastic measures to change the way our country was being handled.

There was then a small group of people who really did not believe that we could lead our country ourselves while another was convinced that Seychellois had the potential and courage to become an independent and free nation.

There was a group who thought that for us to develop we needed to encourage those who had money ( like Seychellois-Foreigners ) to get more in order to provide more jobs for the poorer. And there was a group who believed that for us to have real development we needed to distribute the country’s wealth and give every Seychellois the same opportunities for them to contribute to the development of the country.

It was those different points of view that prompted a small group of Seychellois to put aside personal gains, including their own lives if needed, to bring real freedom to the country and to establish a fairer society with more equal opportunities. And on the 5th of June we acted with courage and determination and it was that way that Seychelles began the road towards a new dawn.

The 5th of June did not happen haphazardly. Our aim was clear and we knew what we wanted. We had a vision for our country. Today, 25 years later, we are celebrating this big event in our history and we have to ask ourselves if we had the reason to do it or not.

Dear Seychellois, it is easy to make a wrong step if we listen to those false prophets who claim that they have something better to offer.

It only needs a closer look at these prophets to discover that they are indeed opportunists under the guise of democracy.

The truth speaks louder than those golden words. And those who blame us today  please tell us what will they do for a better Seychelles. What do they want to change?

I want them to explain how come we have achieved so much if my government hasn’t worked hard for the people of Seychelles.

Let the figures speak for themselves, for they speak the truth.

In 1977 our infant mortality rate was 43. This means that in every thousand children born in a year 43 of them died before reaching the age of one. Today our infant mortality rate is less than 13, some years it goes down to even below 10.

In 1977 we had 16 doctors in our hospitals, 2 dentists and 115 qualified nurses. Today, 25 years later we have in our hospitals 93 doctors, 19 dentists and 394 nurses.

In 1977 not every child could complete their primary education and only half of them could complete secondary schooling. And today all children have the opportunity to complete their secondary level of schooling.

In 1977 there were fewer than 40 students at University and today we have 369 students here and abroad achieving tertiary education at different Universities. 

In 1977 we had 660 teachers in our schools, today 1651 have joined the teaching profession.

In 1977 most Seychellois did not possess their own homes and today most of them do. In 1977, only 2400 Seychellois could travel abroad, last year, 31 thousand Seychellois went on holiday overseas.

In 1977 we were using 38,000,000 kilowatts of electricity and today the figure is six fold at 201, 000 000 kilowatts.

In 1977 we had 1,987 telephone lines on Mahe, 94 on Praslin and only 34 on La Digue. In 2002, almost every home has a phone, with 18,500 phone lines on Mahe, 1,500 on Praslin and 700 on La Digue.

In 1977, only 214 kilometres of road had been built and today we have built 443 kilometres with roads reaching every remote corner of the islands.

25 years ago, we had in Seychelles 146 commercial vehicles and today the figure stands at 2. 267.

On the economic front, in 1976 our budget was 76 million rupees while today it stands at 1.3 billion.

In 1977 our GDP was 460 million, and today it's at 3.4 billion.

In 1977 we were importing for 290 million rupees and today we spend 1.9 billion in importation.

In 1977 our GDP per capita was USD1000, and today it's 8 times more, its USD8000.

We should not take the hard work of a nation lightly. Our nation has worked, yes we have worked very hard. We will never regress. It has cost a lot to eliminate poverty.

It has cost a lot to build all the infrastructure we have today which are sustaining our development, both social and economic. People of Seychelles, we have invested in our children and in all segments of the population.

Seychelles has now reached another stage of its development, one that needs other infrastructure and programmes to forever sustain our improving lifestyle and to satisfy new needs. This year we will complete the reclamation project and we will have 300 hectares of land more. More land is being provided for more housing and small businesses and this is on which our foreign earnings have been spent.

We were told by some people who were against progress that we were wasting our hard earned foreign exchange.

Dear Seychellois, today on the reclaimed land we have a housing estate for Seychellois families. We have also managed to provide for a new electricity power station, a sports complex and secondary and primary schools for our youth.

With more foreign earnings we have been able to build a new highway to reduce traffic congestion going to Victoria, which naturally benefits even those who were against the project. We have today an industrial fishing port with more facilities than before, and artisanal fishing port and more roads.

Our water shortage problem during drought is being addressed and our desalination project will be completed this year. We will continuously invest in our social development programme. Facilities at the Victoria Hospital are being improved and you only have to visit the maternity ward and you will know what I mean.

We will continue to invest in Education, and the maintenance programme of our schools is improving.

We will spend more money in areas which our schools need. We are planning to invest 287 million rupees in education in the next 5 years.

In the spirit of June 5, in the next five years we will be investing more than 900 million rupees in housing projects that will benefit some 3, 700 families. We will continue to help small entrepreneurs to start and expand their businesses without forgetting the agricultural and fishing industries.

We will continue to bring down the cost of living and we will do so to improve the standard of living of our families.

Yes, we will solve the foreign exchange problem. We will continue to pay our external debts but it's just as important that we do not fall into the trap of cheap propaganda.

In my State-of-the-Nation Address earlier this year,  I said that we needed to be tough on the black market and we have done so. But the way the black market dealers operate has also changed.

Ordinary Seychellois are being used to physically transfer money into foreign accounts abroad. These accounts belong to those very people who are fighting against all the regulations that we are putting in place.

What was the man who was arrested with 20 thousand dollars without a bank receipt going to do with the money on a 3-day trip?

Interrogation or search by police personnel are the only ways to send a clear message to those involved in the black market foreign exchange business that we have found them out and that we are also protecting those innocent people who fall prey to such activities.

Yes it's true that today we are feeling a strain on our development. Our opponents know very well that this is only normal. Tell me which country has developed without facing problems? There’s none.

When I look at the level of development in our country today, how far we have reached, the level of education, our maturity, and our modern lifestyle, I ask myself one question.

On the 2nd September last year, did the Seychellois nation want to go off the road of progress we have been building since the 5th June, 1977?

It is clear that this is what the opposition will want us believe. They have tried to make believe that the 5th of June was a mistake. They want to make believe that what the SPPF government has achieved it would have been done anyway. This is not true at all.

We realised then that the government in power would not have brought about real development, just like most countries which gained independence then.

In case there are those who have forgotten or who’ve been blinded by false propaganda, let me remind them that this year marks a decade since we introduced multi-party democracy in Seychelles.

On the 26th of July 1992, the SPPF received 58.5 percent of the votes and DP got 33.7%, and they were the ones chosen by the electorate to represent them at the constitutional commission, with the aim of designing a new constitution for the third republic.

Then we made sure that we consolidated and protected what we had achieved in 1977. All those fundamental rights such as free education, free health care, the right to have decent housing, the right of women in the workplace, the right to social welfare for the needy were guaranteed by our constitution.

In June 1993, 73.9% of the electorate gave their approval in a referendum for the constitution of the 3rd Republic.

This marked a historic step and the assurance to our nation that with its maturity and responsibility we will live in a free country where there’s peace and harmony.

But for a few years now we are seeing something of a volatile situation where people are becoming more hateful and vengeful and hatred is being sowed in certain papers and at certain meetings.

We are also seeing a situation where peace and harmony are being threatened by those who do not wish to follow the rule of law and want to destabilize the country.

But on the 2nd of September, Seychellois sent a clear message to these people. They told us that they were in favour of real progress, peace and harmony. They also told us that some were sitting on their laurels.

They have made us understand that we need to revamp ourselves, double our work and efforts for the welfare of the country. For me it was clear that the Seychellois people were concerned that certain anti-progress elements were slowly pervading our midst. They were concerned that some people were going astray and that public servants were forgetting their real roles as servants of the people.

When I take stock of the situation I find that their concern was justified. Some of us were indeed taking things too lightly. Some members of our  team were adopting a laissez faire attitude, and they had lost the real vision and purpose of June 5.

They were being used as opposition mechanism to prevent us from achieving what we had set for ourselves. The opposition used them by encouraging lethargy and destruction.

The results of the September 2 election said a lot. It asked us to wake up and work to make sure that the government’s arms were working as they should and in a more efficient way.

This is the message they sent us.

On September 2, the Seychellois nation once again put their trust in me, and that was an indication that they still believed that SPPF was still the best solution for Seychelles, both today and tomorrow.

With this in mind, my administration took on a new promise, to keep Seychelles on the road of progress, social justice and political stability.

The new mandate itself says that June 5 is a date we should not forget.

When I began my quest for a better Seychelles, I told you that the path we had taken was not an easy one. We will need at a certain point make sacrifices for a more prosperous tomorrow. We need to face those negative elements in our society, our opponents will use all sorts of tactics against us, some may even resort to violence.

Seychelles will need to face those who only want political power and milk the system. Now that we have worked hard to guarantee equal opportunities, some still believe that they can come in and reap the fruits of our sweat. Some people think that they should bite the hand that feeds them. It's our promise to prevent these from happening.

A lot of countries recognise the progress we have made. Seychelles is today and example for many African countries as well as those from other continents.

But there are those who travel abroad just to smear our image. We will not let them pull us back. It's part of our promise to impress the world with our achievements.

As for those who are unpatriotic and dishonest, we will work even harder in the June 5 spirit. Let me remind you that over 43% of our population have been born after June 5, 1977, and all the hard work we have done has also brought them multiple benefits.

A whole generation was born and bred in a new Seychelles that was formed after June 5, 1977, a better Seychelles. And today they are growing with the hope that they will also contribute positively to this country.

Just like the past generation which has given heart and soul for the progress of this country, our youth today also has a noble mission to carry on the task beyond this era.

The challenges our youth are faced with today is not only that we enjoy a high standard of living, but that those born in the next 25 years live and grow in an even better Seychelles.

But for this to happen it's important that they know their responsibilities towards those who were before them – our founding fathers of this beautiful nation who sacrificed a lot for the country. Yes, they have to devote their energies to education, they have to grow into responsible adults, and respect the system’s institutions both public and private. They have to defy violence at all costs.

They have to study things carefully, and not to fall into the traps of those who come with beautiful promises but that they become custodians of our peace and harmony.

It is my hope that they become more productive beings and follow that route to progress and social justice, that they develop our culture and preserve our heritage and take care our their environment.

They have to make sure that our social fabric remains a strong ones. That they love their country and they do it for the love of Seychelles.

I have trust in our youth, and I therefore have hope for the future.

Dear Seychellois, when I look at our future I see hope, hope for our children, our senior citizens and our country.

In the past 25 years we have grown out of poverty into prosperity, and we will not go back.

As one nation, we will go forward, step by step, knowing that we are proud of who we are, what we have achieved, and more determined to preserve just that and meet new challenges.

On this road of progress, we have the promise of a better tomorrow. I thank you for your hard work and support. 

Thank you.

LINKS