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Favouritism and Lack of Transparency in Public Appointments in Mauritius
The Mauritian political elite have long been promising us ‘transparency’, which makes recent events all the more shameful. When it comes to appointments to public office, Mauritians have long been aware that those in power blatantly nominate their close friends or relations or political allies, rather than selecting the best candidate for the job. Of course, we must also consider that all those persons who have accepted, and will in the future accept jobs offered to them because of their personal connections or political affiliations are equally to blame. What kind of a message are we sending to our children? What kind of a person accepts a nomination they know to be based on favouritism or cronyism? When the favouritism is based on accusations of adulterous relationships what kind of people fail to address these issues, allowing their families to be indirectly attacked, and their own moral standing questioned? What does this say about the intellectual integrity, decency and moral values of both our political elites and those on whom they bestow such favours? We may be a small population with a limited pool of qualified candidates, but we can surely be expected to abide by proper procedures in interviewing and selecting public employees. We cannot embrace the principle of meritocracy while practising a culture of cronyism and nepotism. Our tertiary institutions are full of persons whose positions depend on their allegiance to one party or another, or indeed on their personal relationships. It is time for the younger generation to take a stand – to say NOT IN OUR NAME!
Sources: Patrick Hilbert ‘Nomination de Vijaya Sumputh : Vifs échanges entre Bérenger et le Speaker’, Le Defi, 25 Feb 2015; ‘Anil Gayan reprend Vijaya Sumputh sous ses ailes’ Week-End, 1 March, 2015; Touria Prayag ‘There are more ways than one to skin a cat’ l’Express 5 Mars 2015.
© MMag
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