Opinion - Mayor David Andre could put a smile on Victoria’s baby face |07 January 2017
Yes President Danny Faure’s appointment of Mr David Andre as the new Mayor of Victoria – with the support of members of the National Assembly (from both sides of the House) representing districts surrounding Victoria – is another bold step in the right direction. And none appears more ready to prove this to be so than Mr Andre himself who lost no time to point out that if he has any claim to national recognition, it is as an ‘artist’ and not as a ‘politician’.
Two things I have always liked with David Andre. First he has always retained his big smile although often surrounded by sour faced people and secondly his love for music and songs.
After the Seychelles coup in June 1977, the late Robert Caillé, then Editor of Paris Vogue, published an interview with me which was entitled ‘The Singing Philosophy’. I said that on the road of life I discovered that there is a song for each and every occasion and that it did not matter how well or how badly one sings because when one is singing, one has no time for envy, jealousy and or evil conspiracy. One is left to one’s own memories and to one’s dreams of what one is seeking. Well, I do believe that David Andre somehow shares this philosophy.
However, if Victoria, our little capital is to come out with a ‘big smile’, David’s lovely music and inspiring songs would not be sufficient. There are several items which he should consider to put on his agenda for priority consideration. May I be allowed to suggest a few:
(i) He should aim at making Victoria the cleanest and most hygienic Port/City on this side of the Equator;
(ii) Of what remains of the green parts of Victoria, he should ensure that more beautiful flowers are added and perhaps a few more Flamboyant Trees are grown. Far too difficult to think about growing again the huge Sandragon Trees which once adorned central Victoria near the old Taxi Stand;
(iii) He will have to call for the best advice to solve our ever-increasing traffic problems;
(iv) In the spirit of reconciliation and with the accord of President Faure – consideration should promptly be given to change the name of ‘Avenue 5 juin’ into maybe ‘Rue de la Reconciliation Nationale’, and of course ‘Rue de La Revolution’ should take back its historical name of ‘La Rue Royale – for who wants to be thinking of ‘La Rue de La Revolution’ when the revolution has failed and when peace and reconciliation is on the agenda.
I have special credit to my name for wishing to discuss matters of and concerning Victoria. I was born in Victoria, grew up in Victoria, played hide and seek in the streets of Victoria and then later on when Legislative Council election was established, I served many years in the office of the Elected Member for Victoria and the Outlying Islands.
In 1947, Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Seychelles after whom we named the Victoria Market, introduced Local Government in Seychelles – with Mahé, Praslin and La Digue partitioned into several District Councils – one of which was the Victoria District Council, then referred to as the VDC.
My father, Richard Mancham, became an elected member of that Council for the Central Ward of Victoria. I remember as a young 11-year-old accompanying two popular Victoria characters (Monsieur Lucien Mathiot and Monsieur Eugene Marie), parading down the streets of Belonie and Mont Buxton, ringing large school bells and displaying huge cardboards with inscription – ‘Voter pour Monsieur Richard Mancham’, while singing aloud ‘Annou voter manman, annou voter papa, annou voter piti, annou voter pour Monsieur Richard Mancham, ‘Voter manman, voter papa, voter piti, annou voter pour Monsieur Richard Mancham’.
It is to be noted that following the introduction of ‘one man one vote' and the emergence of party politics against a background of popular politics, Mr F.A. Rene and myself with the support of our respective party, decided to do away with elected District Councils. Just imagine a scenario of the elected member of District Council of Beau Vallon clashing with the politics of the elected member of the National Assembly which covers this district? There again, party politics could once again destroy any harmony achieved by the politics of national reconciliation.
It is for this reason that I recently stated that I was against the idea of resuscitating Local Government election. Well, the ruling Party and the Opposition appear to wish otherwise and I understand that Local Government elections will be held in year 2018. This is democracy but history will tell whether I was right or wrong. Truly speaking with only 18months in office as Mayor before an election is due is an encouragement to short-term and not long-term solutions.
Today Victoria can also claim to be an active Centre of Interfaith Movements in the Western Indian Ocean region. When I was growing up, we had the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception in Olivier Maradan Street, we had the St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral and the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Royal Street. But over recent times, we have seen burgeoning different branches of the Christian faith alongside the Hindu Temple, the Islamic Mosque and the Baha’i Church. The Mayor of the Town would be expected to maintain cordial relations with all leaders of these religious organisations.
There is an important role which the Mayor of Victoria can play in the life of the Nation. He must ensure that Victoria is always projected as a friendly capital to the outside world. Many VIPs would wish to pay a courtesy call on him, particularly as the President of the Republic, the Vice-President and ministers would often be far too occupied with the day to day running of the government to have much time for ceremonies.
The Mayor of Victoria should be encouraged to get the VIPs to become endeared with Seychelles and would wish to present to them a friendly memento to commemorate their visit. The coco-de-mer has become too expensive to be handed out to all VIPs. Those few available must be left to be given as memento by the President or Vice-President. So what should the Mayor do? There are two propositions which are not costly – (i) An approach to either the Chinese or Indian government for a quantity of gold-plated keys which would be gifted as the Golden Key of Victoria and (ii) And if the visitor is also to be made an Honorary Citizen of Victoria, it would be appropriate for the Mayor to present him with a well-designed parchment which he could frame and display in his office. The point is there are a lot of rich people with a lot of money in the banks but with nothing hanging on their office walls, like the one I have been displaying over the years since 1965 which reads –
“Greetings,
Be it hereby known that James Richard Mancham as on this 18 day of August 1965 been made an Honorary Citizen of New Orleans International City.
Founded 1718 A.D. by the French explorer Bienville… A city of old world tradition and new world enterprise… Famed to its charm, beauty and hospitality… One of America’s most progressive communities… A great world port and the centre of a vast and growing imperial empire…
Signed
Victor H. Schiro
Mayor”.
You see David, you have exciting times ahead and I do hope you will provide me with the opportunity of an early courtesy call. I welcome your appointment as an artist to the position of Mayor of Victoria. In the same spirit, I have welcomed the designation of another artist Mr Patrick Victor as an Honorary Doctor of the University of Seychelles. But what about the artist Mickey Mancham? Should his memory be allowed to fade in the mists of the past? Although he died in 1970 at the age of 26, a great majority of the people of Seychelles still cherish his memory. Among his great songs stands ‘Tou le zour dan lari bazar’, which very much evoke a certain spirit and character of that part of Victoria and then ‘Annou viv konman frer…pa neseser ki nou lager’, testifying his vision for unity and national reconciliation. Cannot we find a little place somewhere to commemorate the memory of this beloved son of our shores whose songs are still popular with most Seychellois?
James R. Mancham