🇲🇺 Anti-corruption officers raid the charity that flies sick Mauritians abroad

Anti-corruption officers raid the charity that flies sick Mauritians abroad

Officers from the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) executed search warrants at three locations on Tuesday as part of a formal investigation into the OMCA Foundation, the charity that organises overseas medical evacuations for Mauritian patients. Raids hit the foundation's offices in Ébène and Forest-Side, and the private home of a senior executive in Curepipe. Investigators seized a significant volume of documents during the operations.

The probe focuses on financial discrepancies — specifically where OMCA's money comes from and whether employee salaries were paid from legitimate sources. Director Tasleem Dilloo was summoned to FCC headquarters at Réduit Triangle, questioned, and released. He told journalists the foundation operates lawfully and undergoes regular audits. The investigation comes just days after Health Minister Anil Bachoo raised questions about OMCA in parliament in connection with the case of the late musician Ras Natty Baby, who was evacuated for treatment in India before his death.

A charity built on public trust now has investigators in its offices. The accounts will tell a different story.

Ants found in a newborn's incubator. The health minister says he's taking it 'very seriously.'

Health Minister Anil Bachoo confirmed in parliament Tuesday that an internal investigation is underway at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital after a father reported finding ants inside his newborn's incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit. The baby had been admitted on 16 February. The probe opened officially on 12 March and also covers a separate allegation that the infant was given expired colic drops.

Hospital staff say the equipment was clean and no insects were present. Bachoo said he is reviewing the case file to establish accountability and has also received complaints about the conduct of certain hospital officials. No outcome has been announced.

A NICU should be the most controlled environment in any hospital. Two protocol failures in one case is one too many.

Civil servants' work-from-home plan: announced Tuesday, cancelled Wednesday

One day. That is how long it took the government to reverse a policy it had framed as a serious response to the Middle East crisis. A circular signed by the Secretary for Public Service introduced remote work, flexitime, and hybrid arrangements across the civil service starting 11 May, citing the economic fallout from regional conflict. By Wednesday, a second circular cancelled the first 'with immediate effect', adding that 'any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.'

The original circular — titled 'Response to the Conflict in the Middle East' — had already spread widely on social media before the reversal. No explanation was given for the withdrawal. The cancelled note had been addressed to all ministries, departments, and the Rodrigues Regional Assembly.

STC stockpiling milk and flour as Middle East disruption hits supply chains

Following a four-hour board meeting Tuesday evening, the State Trading Corporation (STC) confirmed it will issue new tenders for strategic milk and flour reserves, protecting against disruptions tied to Middle East conflict. The STC said it also made substantial recent purchases of edible oil through Moroil to shore up stocks. One detail buried in the meeting report stood out: the STC runs its national distribution network with just two delivery trucks, a fleet the board itself called 'insufficient.' An expansion has been approved.

765 complaints and counting: invasive beetle is destroying ambarella trees island-wide

An outbreak of a pest known as the Hog Plum Beetle has generated 765 official complaints as of 30 April, as the insect spreads across ambarella trees throughout the island. The government has intervened but growers say the damage is already widespread. Ambarella, the tart green fruit sold roadside across Mauritius, is one of the more visible casualties of an invasive species that appeared without warning.

Shorts

500 jobs in doubt at three linked factories – Three factories in the same group face possible closure, with 480 workers unpaid for April and facing mounting uncertainty over the group's finances.

Fishermen: diesel costs doubled in 2 months – Fuel costs for one fishing run jumped from Rs 99,000 to Rs 210,000, pushing small fishing operators to the edge of survival.

Rodrigues logs its first local chikungunya case – A 45-year-old man from La Ferme tested positive with no recent travel history, confirming local transmission on the island for the first time this year.

Man slapped on metro for keeping his seat – A 63-year-old retiree was struck aboard the metro near Rose-Hill after a passenger demanded he give up his seat, per a police report filed this week.

Voter registration opens 16 May – The Electoral Commissioner's office launched its awareness campaign ahead of a registration exercise running from 16 to 30 May in dedicated centres across all constituencies.

870

traffic and maritime infractions logged across four days of intensive island-wide police operations from 1 to 4 May, during which nearly 5,000 vehicles were stopped.

Rs 30.19 billion

in tourism revenue earned in Q1 2026, including Rs 9.56 billion in March alone — which Tourism Minister Richard Duval called a 'beautiful performance.'

27,308

disability pension files reviewed by the Social Integration Ministry since November 2024, per a parliamentary answer from Minister Ashok Subron, roughly 1,650 cases processed per month.

Virus-hit cruise ship at Cape Verde: patients evacuated as Canary Islands refuse to let it dock

Three passengers from the MV Hondius were evacuated for medical care as the vessel remained moored off Cape Verde, battling a suspected hantavirus outbreak that has killed three and left eight more with suspected infections. Cape Verde says it is preparing additional medical assistance for those still aboard.

Spain proposed letting the ship dock at the Canary Islands. The regional government there rejected the idea on Wednesday, citing infection risk. Health officials say the virus is far less contagious than Covid-19 and the chance of wider spread is low.

Uganda criminalises foreign-funded groups with new 'Sovereignty Bill'

Uganda's parliament passed legislation that labels NGOs and individuals receiving overseas money as 'agents of foreigners' and threatens up to 20 years in prison for those deemed to act against Ugandan national interests.

Burkina Faso junta secretly detained and abused prominent journalist

Reporters Without Borders says Burkina Faso's military government secretly held investigative journalist Atiana Serge Oulon and dozens of others in a makeshift detention facility in Ouagadougou, in the latest crackdown on dissent under the junta.

Oil prices swung sharply on US-Iran peace hopes — then reality set in

Global crude prices plunged sharply Wednesday on reports of progress toward a US-Iran agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, then partly reversed as analysts warned the situation remains deeply uncertain. Iran is still signalling it may target ships that don't follow its preferred transit routes.

Separately, Iraqi tankers began crossing overland into Syria through the recently reopened Rabia-Yarubiyah border gate, bypassing Hormuz entirely. Regional energy exporters are not waiting for the maritime situation to resolve.

An 8% price swing in a day is not a market — it's a guessing game dressed as one.

Israel strikes Beirut suburb despite ceasefire, killing Hezbollah commander

Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, killing a Hezbollah Radwan force commander in the first strike near the Lebanese capital since the April 17 ceasefire agreement.

China tells Iran: accept a ceasefire before Trump arrives in Beijing

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Iranian counterpart Wednesday and urged a comprehensive ceasefire before President Donald Trump's summit in Beijing, positioning Beijing as a potential broker rather than a bystander in the standoff.

Two seized Iranian tankers are now sitting at Diego Garcia

The US Navy intercepted two Iranian-linked oil tankers in the Arabian Sea last week. Rather than docking them in the Gulf — Oman, the UAE, and Pakistan apparently all said no — the Americans transferred both vessels to Diego Garcia, the remote Indian Ocean atoll that is also the subject of an unresolved sovereignty dispute between Mauritius and Britain.

The ships' tracking signals were switched off before arrival. Some international observers are calling the seizure an act of piracy. The Americans call it a lawful naval operation. Either way, the island Mauritius is still trying to reclaim just became a parking lot for confiscated Iranian oil.