Two social media users, Hassenjee and Fareenah Ruhomally, took on Mauritian royalty this week by sharing an allegedly unpaid Rs400,000 bill at the Apollo Bramwell Hospital – a bill that should have been settled by our beloved minister, Showkutally Soodhun. All the latter had to do was complain and the police acted with the celerity they are capable of every time someone has the audacity to point the finger at the gods of the day. And the couple were immediately invited to spend the night in a cell and left with the gift of having to visit the police station every week until the end of their bail. Soodhun does not forgive nor does he forget.  The minister of housing and lands lodged another complaint at the Central Criminal Investigation Division (CCID) on Wednesday as he is determined to bring down those tarnishing his reputation on social media.

How dare they? Soodhun. Man of the people. Friend of Saudi royalty. Mediator between political superpowers. How does an unpaid bill fit into that? Outrageous! As he and the prime minister have suggested – and as usual, they are right – we are an ungrateful nation.

Soodhun claims that he has already given evidence to the police and he is allowing them do their job. So be it! With the expertise and objectivity of our authorities, as recently displayed in the Ish Sookun case, we can rest assured that we are in safe hands and that the accused couple will be made to pay. According to Hassenjee Ruhomally’s lawyer, Zakir Mohamed, the IT expert is currently tied to a hospital bed with a police officer next to him. Ruhomally was taken ill during his questioning at the CCID.

“Soodhun does not forgive nor does he forget.”

It seems to defy logic that anyone would want to annoy Soodhun as he holds the key to Saudi investment in the arguably essential Heritage City. Out of the $820 million needed for the construction of Heritage City, an estimated $500 million will be offered by the Saudis. 

Luckily for us, fears regarding the Saudi economy’s ability to cope with the erratic price of fuel have also been brushed aside. While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed doubt as to the sustainability of Saudi Arabia, our own expert on economic matters, the multi-talented Soodhun, put it as simply as he could for all of us to understand: “The IMF is wrong.”   

Moreover, as many countries are reconsidering their ties with Saudi Arabia, Mauritius is building new ones. As a matter of fact, international observers have condemned Saudi Arabia for its poor human rights record. Their execution of 47 prisoners last month also caused mass protests in the Middle East. But who cares about morality or human decency? It is obvious that the construction of Heritage City is more important than all of that. 

As Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo met with Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, last Thursday in Washington, we hope that he expressed the disappointment of the entire Mauritian nation at the IMF’s erroneous report on Saudi Arabia. Soodhun said the Kingdom was doing fine. We should stop being ungrateful by putting his judgment into question. Soodhun only preaches the truth. Amen.