You must have watched with no hard feelings two very important appointments this week. And you must have decoded the clear message sent to you: that if you are a minion of the supremo, you are in; otherwise, you are an outcast. You must also by now have forgotten about Santa’s talk of appointment by open, competitive and transparent selection, meritocracy, competence, efficacy, productive use of public funds blah blah blah.

I am not denying Ken Arian the rise from rags to riches since his pals took over. I don’t suppose you are either. Far from it. I think he has stamped enough boarding passes and served enough alcohol to drunk passengers on various flights that it’s nice to see him now sit and reap money. Naturally, his qualifications and absence of managerial experience would never have allowed him to land such a position if meritocracy was still a word in the political dictionary. Nor am I begrudging Bhaiya Ahmed the opportunity to finally get his boutte after abandoning ship and joining the party he had so vehemently criticised. After all, everyone and their dog seem to be at the feeding trough, gorging themselves as if there was no tomorrow.

So I think you’d do well joining the myriad Mauritians sending congratulatory messages to these new meritorious people for joining in the feasting orgy. If you are concerned about the consequences of appointing people who are out of their depth, relax! Quite honestly, how much more harm can Arian’s professional vacuity and inexperience or Jeewah’s old age cause to the institutions they are called upon to head? We all know the situation at MK and the subterfuge used to blur its dreadful finances by muddling the latter with other enterprises with a thicker purse. As for Jeewah’s Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), we hadn’t heard of it for such a long time that we are relieved to learn that it exists at all. So learn to look at the positive side.

I must say though that my heart bleeds for you. If ever you had retained a shred of hope that your competence, hard work and loyalty to your country will one day be recognised, tough cake! Here is the reality of Sus Island: these jobs are all reserved for the boys and girls – the chatwas of the regime we call our government. If you are lucky enough to have an ordinary job, a substantial chunk of your taxes will contribute to their lifestyle. If you are not happy, you can complain to the EOC where your case will be handled by very independent people. I have no doubt that it is worth your time as you will obtain full satisfaction, as you do when you approach any other ‘independent institution’ under this government.

You must have realised by now that all our institutions are full to the brim with stuffed shirts and misfits from the ragtag army of the regime’s coteries of favourites. You watched one appointment after another done in exactly the same pattern. You watched them squander your money on salaries, limousines, perks and contracts to cronies. You watched their incompetence at play every time we are faced with a challenge, be it Wakashio, Covid, the drug scourge, the nosediving economy etc. You saw them dilapidate public funds in an unprecedented spending spree on futile mega projects and expenditures, stadium, Safe City, Liverpool sponsorship, etc, which bring nothing in return and instead aggravate an already alarming and unsustainable public debt future generations are saddled with.

You first got angry and ran to your laptop to offload it. Then you experienced a deep sense of injustice but kept it to yourself. Then you watched more of the same and got used to it. As the system got gangrened by more and more blatant cronyism and patronage, you became jaded. You then accepted your station as an outcast. You gave in to the reality of the sky for the chosen few and hopelessness and despondency for the many. Welcome to the land of apathy!