Commander-in-chief discusses SPDF’s future plans |05 December 2017

President Danny Faure, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF), yesterday visited the SPDF headquarters at Bel Eau where he held discussions with high officials of the force on the future of the army in Seychelles.

President Faure was greeted on arrival by the Chief of Defence Forces Brigadier Leopold Payet, accompanied by other high ranking officers of the force.

After inspecting the facilities, President Faure held lengthy discussions with the SPDF representatives in the headquarters’ conference room.

Giving more details on what was discussed, Chief of Staff Colonel Michael Rosette said it is important that the president as commander-in-chief visits the soldiers at least once or twice a year.

“Today we got the chance to discuss with him plans of the SPDF for the future, the current situation and what the force expects to undertake to continue developing the SPDF,” said Colonel Rosette.

Regarding the issue in the Seychelles National Assembly where vote of approval on the 2018 national budget has been put on hold due to an incident between a member of the house and that of SPDF and the talks about looking into the functions of the force in the country to make it more on par with current national developments, Colonel Rosette said with regard to the incident the authority is undertaking its investigation and will make known its findings in due course.

“Concerning the defence forces, its role and responsibility is clearly stated in the Constitution of Seychelles. And we respect that,” said Mr Rosette.

In relation to the recent announcement by the president and commander-in-chief of the joint patrol to be undertaken by both the army and the police during the festive season to safeguard national security, Colonel Rosette again referred to the Constitution where it stated in a situation where the commander-in-chief or the police believe they need reinforcement with regard to redress an occurring situation in the country, it is therefore normal for the commander-in-chief to request the assistance of the army to the national police force to ensure Seychellois feel themselves safe and comfortable, especially during the festive period the country is about to go through.

“And it is for this reason we will take on this responsibility of assisting the police force with the maximum human resources to ensure the Seychellois people have a peaceful and safe festive season,” he said.

But colonel Rosette assured the people that the army will not be working alongside the police permanently as the Seychelles Police Force already has its mandate to preserve law and order, which it is currently putting much emphasis on. SPDF, he said, will be there on certain occasions when the police needs their assistance.

Colonel Rosette added the military will conduct their patrols in their army combat as is the norm in a lot of countries. He was answering a question about whether foreigners will get the impression Seychelles is sort of under a state of emergency if the military is seen patrolling the country.

“This is not the case. Today the world is like this. Nowadays everywhere you go you see soldiers on patrol assisting the police either on airports, on the streets … there are a lot of uncertainties in the world today. Therefore many countries have seen it fit to use their military personnel to assist their police force. I do not really see it as a problem for us here in Seychelles. When Seychellois find themselves more comfortable, and the environment more peaceful, they themselves will be satisfied,” said Mr Rosette.

But he also emphasised that SPDF already does a lot for the community which perhaps people are not aware of.

“One of the main contributors towards donating blood is the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces. We also do a lot of voluntary work like at schools which seek their assistance for such work. As it’s the people who contribute towards their pay at the end of the month, therefore when the force is not facing difficult moments, it helps the community as much as it can. This is in our constitution and in the Seychelles Defence Forces Act. It is clear. SPDF is there to help in the development of the country,” he said.

The accompanying photographs show President Faure interacting with members of the force during his visit yesterday.