Public Servants of Seychelles

When I addressed Chief Executives in Government earlier this year, I expounded my vision of a public service inspired by a system of values where there is no misuse of Government assets. We are now going to put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure this vision becomes a reality.

The issue of values is about two distinct matters, one being the matter of the law and the other being a matter of social morality.

All philosophy recognizes the fact that what distinguishes human beings from other forms of animal existence is that we have both material and spiritual needs. The exclusive pursuit of one of these, ignoring the other, is to invite disaster.

Today, we see that many in our society are inspired by a system of values which begins and ends with the pursuit of what is materially beneficial to themselves, with no sense of what is morally correct. In many instances, our society itself describes as successful those who have accumulated more wealth than others and where success is defined as success in having addressed effectively our material needs. No questions are asked about the ethical behaviour of any of these people.

And so our youth grow up believing that to be deemed a success in our society, one must possess luxury cars, one must have a big and expensive house and dress in the finest garments available on the market.

The issue of how these worldly goods are acquired is immaterial. In such situations, to rob a pensioner of his or her pension becomes but a mere means of reaching the goal of self-enrichment by the shortest route possible.

To appropriate public resources is merely to do the done thing by taking advantage of the position you find yourself in, of access to these resources by virtue of the fact that you happen to be employed in the public service.

The laws that define that such actions are wrong and are therefore punishable by law are there. Nevertheless, there needs to be acceptance that beyond the law, there is what is morally right and morally wrong.

Let me describe what I believe should be the core values of a civil service that we aspire to be:
- Honesty and integrity above private interests;
- Accountability and openness in decision making and in all public functions;
- Fairness and impartiality in decision making and in the execution of public duties;
- Political neutrality in conducting official duties; and
- Diligence and dedication in serving the community.
- Total commitment to the rule of law;

In this context, I welcome the initiative taken last year to draw up a Code of Conduct and Ethics for public sector employees. I charge Chief Executives in Government to bring the contents of this code to the attention of all employees in the public sector and to ensure that appropriate mechanisms are put in place to monitor adherence.

It would seem necessary that we should also consider encouraging all other sectors of our society to follow this example so that we develop a truly national and sustained offensive to strengthen our country’s value system.

In tandem, we need to make an attempt to understand what it is that happened or happens during the course of the development of our society which created and perpetuates the conditions for such behaviour as we might consider morally unacceptable.

I have exhorted all leaders in Government to lead by example and I would like to stress that leadership and ethics go hand in hand. The first responsibility of leaders is to reinforce core values and to lead by personal example. Values are the conscience of any society. They must be lived and not just preached.

On this day I would like to thank all public sector employees who through their examples bring honour to the service. I would ask them and all others to renew their pledge to serve the nation diligently and to exhibit a sense of duty that always puts the people first.

Happy Public Service Day!