Seychelles’ former minister Maxime Ferrari passes away |30 June 2021

Dr Maxime Ferrari

A former minister in the government headed by late President France Albert Rene in the Second Republic, Maxime Ferrari passed away at the age of 91 yesterday ‒ the day the country celebrated its 45th Independence Day anniversary.

Born on January 27, 1930, he was an Ireland-educated gynaecologist following his studies in medicine at the University College, Cork and qualified in 1955. He also worked as an obstetrician following his return to Seychelles in 1957.

Father to incumbent Designated Minister Jean-François Ferrari, who also holds the portfolio for fisheries, Maxime Ferrari held several positions in the Seychelles government before leaving the country on self-imposed exile.

He was the founding father of the Indian Ocean Commission, an inter-governmental organisation designed to strengthen relationship between the five Indian Ocean nations and islands ‒ Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Madagascar and Reunion (an overseas region of France).

Having represented Seychelles at a number of overseas summits in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), New Delhi (India), and New York (United States of America), Mr Ferrari joined politics and the struggle for Seychellois independence in 1974. He was named vice-president of the Seychelles People’s United Party (SPUP) which later metamorphosed into Seychelles People’s Progressive Front (SPPF), Parti Lepep (People’s Party) and United Seychelles.

During the First Republic under the country’s first President James Mancham from Independence Day on June 29, 1976, he served as Minister for Labour and Social Security.

Mr Ferrari was very much involved in the coup d’etat led by then Prime Minister France Albert René against President Mancham on June 5, 1977. He then served as Minister for Agriculture (1977 to 1978), Minister for Planning and Development (1978-1982) and Minister for Planning and External Relations (1982 to 1984). He resigned from his post in 1984, due to his disillusionment with politics and then joined the United Nations Organisation and held the post of Regional Representative and Director of the Regional Office for Africa of UNEP. Posted in Nairobi, Kenya, he travelled widely in Africa and elsewhere. In this position, he attended the African Ministerial conference on the environment (Amcen) held in Cairo in December 1985 and acted as head of the conference up until his retirement. In collaboration with UNECA, he organised the African Regional Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development held in Kampala, Uganda, in June 1989. His work involved organising a wide range of workshops on the topic of environmental management.

When he retired in 1990, he founded the Seychelles Institute for Democracy, and made a contribution to the return of multi-party democracy in the country. He also became the chairman of the United Democratic Movement in Seychelles and founded the Rally of the People of Seychelles for Democracy (RPSD).

He has also published numerous articles on the environment and has lectured to scientific communities on environmental policies, as well as on the conservation of endangered species.

Identifying himself as Roman Catholic, he was elected as the first president of the Union Chrétienne Seychelloise, an organisation designed to promote cultural, moral and Christian values.

In 1999, he published an autobiography, entitled ‘Sunshine and Shadows, A Personal Story’.

He is survived by his wife Ginette Nageon de Lestang whom he married in 1955, five children ‒ Marie-Antoinette, Cécile, Jean-François, Pauline, and André-Michel, as well as grandchildren.

One of his grandsons, Blaise Baquiche, was a former adviser to the Conservative Party in the European Parliament before joining the Lib Dems in 2017.

For the past years, Mr Ferrari has appeared before the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) at least three times.

On October 11, 2019, he gave evidence pertaining to events and circumstances surrounding the coup d’etat, the shooting of Davidson Chang-Him on June 5, 1977, and land acquisition.

He declared his “genuine and profound regret” at having been at the source of much pain for other Seychellois.

“I am the first person, directly involved with the coup, to have spoken about my involvement publicly and to have written on paper, for all to read, my account of what happened on that fateful day and during the years that followed,” he said.

Concerning his involvement in planning the coup d’etat and the imposition of one-party state an estimated 18 months after the coup, Dr Ferrari noted that he was often lied to about the plans and that he had no role in masterminding such.

“The one party state was never discussed. It followed after and until today I still blame myself for not having quit my position in the government. It is the one-party state that brought all this suffering to Seychelles,” Dr Ferrari noted.

Although his name was mentioned by several witnesses as the person who administered injections to the perpetrators of the coup, Dr Ferrari noted that he had no knowledge of injections being administered to persons who participated in the coup until the matter was brought up by the commission.

As to claims by witnesses that he was involved in illegal acquisition of their land during his time as the Minister for Lands and Development, Dr Ferrari said he signed for the acquisition of 33 properties, 18 of which measured less than one hectare.

Seychelles NATION extends its deepest condolences to Dr Ferrari’s family and friends on his passing.

Compiled by Gerard Govinden