The report of the Commission of Inquiry into the sale of Britam assets was released this week following a statement by the Prime Minister in parliament. Three government ministers held a press conference on Saturday morning. The Attorney General, Maneesh Gobin announced that the investigation will not be carried out only by the police and the Independent Commission against Corruption in Mauritius. He revealed that he has already initiated the process to seek the help of the United Nations. He referred to the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative of the World Bank and the United Nations. He said it is a programme that offers technical assistance to countries that want to trace stolen assets. For Maneesh Gobin, in Britam’s case, “all those responsible wills have to answer for their actions”. For him, someone will have to pay if Rs 1.9 million is missing in the deal
Mahen Seeruttun, Minister of Financial Services, believes that “those involved in the sale of Britam, a subsidiary of the former BAI, have flouted all good governance practices“. According to the Minister of Financial Services, there are “unacceptable practices” including ignoring the decision of the Cabinet to transfer all shares to the National Property Fund Ltd (NPFL).
Also present at the press conference, the Minister, Bobby Hurreeram, said that the “damning” report of the Domah Commission of Inquiry was a landmark in the country’s history. “We have never had such a damning report against a former minister in the history of the country,” the Public Infrastructure Minister said. Bobby Hurreeram went further in his analysis to ask Roshi Bhadain, former Financial Services Minister to come forth and inform the population where the Rs 1.9 billion went.
