🇲🇺 Covid fund money sat in a failing bank, and Rs 500 million still hasn't come back

Covid fund money sat in a failing bank, and Rs 500 million still hasn't come back

Three billion rupees from Mauritius's Covid-19 Projects Development Fund were placed in Silver Bank between April and September 2022. The bank had a single shareholder owning 75% of it, couldn't find a statutory auditor, and had been built on the ruins of another troubled institution. Red flags everywhere. The money went in anyway.

Acting Prime Minister Arianne Navarre-Marie told parliament Tuesday the placements were made with the former finance minister's approval, under the Finance and Audit Act. She didn't contest the legality. She contested the judgment. The deposits were made 'with full knowledge of the circumstances,' she said. Somebody knew.

Rs 500 million is still missing. No certainty of recovery. The previous Bank of Mauritius leadership's oversight was also called out during the session. Silver Bank depositor compensation last week covered retail savers up to Rs 300,000. This is half a billion of public pandemic money. Very different category.

Silver Bank compensation was headline news last week. This is the chapter the previous government hadn't answered for.

Electricity bills rose 15% in May, and the government says it absorbed the rest

Since May 1, every household in Mauritius is paying 15% more for electricity. Energy minister Patrick Assirvaden told parliament Tuesday that had the CEB passed the full heavy fuel cost to consumers, the increase would have been 25%. The government absorbed the gap, with protections for vulnerable households and small businesses.

A 15% rise generates around Rs 3 billion in additional CEB revenue. Before this kicked in, 21,211 households out of 482,000 were already cut off for non-payment.

A 15% hike being sold as good news. For 21,000 disconnected families, the framing will land differently.

Padayachy says the central bank printed Rs 83 billion; the Bank of Mauritius says that didn't happen

Former finance minister Renganaden Padayachy posted a video alleging the Bank of Mauritius printed Rs 83 billion in 2025. Money supply rose 8.6% while the economy grew 3.2%, he argued, implying hidden monetary creation. The BoM denied it the same day: no monetary emission, no transfer to government in 2025.

The government's response on Forum Sitwayen: bring the evidence to parliament. Padayachy hasn't backed down yet.

Two institutions deny it, and the challenge to prove it in parliament still stands. Watch this space.

Over 2,800 chikungunya cases confirmed, with six leptospirosis deaths and dengue now in the mix

Health minister Anil Bachoo presented the numbers to parliament Tuesday in response to a private notice question: 2,800-plus chikungunya cases, 102 still active; six leptospirosis deaths out of 21 cases; one local dengue case, six imported; two imported Mpox cases. Fumigation is underway and drug stocks are adequate, the ministry says.

FCC tells public bodies: 90% of anti-corruption recommendations have been ignored for years

The Financial Crimes Commission has formally warned government ministries and public departments that roughly 90% of anti-corruption safeguards recommended in previous audits remain unimplemented. Standard Operating Procedures are now being required across the public sector, with consequences threatened for those that don't comply.

Shorts

Nurses demand action on Nurses Day – The Mauritius Nursing Association warned of critical staff shortages and burnout on World Nurses Day Tuesday.

NGOs flag failings in stray animal care – Animal rights groups wrote to PM Ramgoolam citing serious failures at the state stray animal authority.

Asbestos in old CHA homes: process begun – A structured process to treat asbestos in former CHA/EDC houses is underway, but still at preparatory stage.

President honours two heroic constables – President Gokhool received constables Bulluck Kistoo and Gayadin for their roadside baby delivery last week.

Franco Quirin hints at return to MMM – Former minister Franco Quirin says he may rejoin the MMM, but on his own terms.

$29 billion

spent by the United States in 74 days of war against Iran, as Defense Secretary Hegseth faced congressional questions on the cost this week.

44%

of Mauritian teenagers aged 12-19 are in a pre-diabetic state, one of the highest rates in the world per WHO figures, flagged by health officials Tuesday.

$35.5 billion

in tariff refunds processed by US customs for importers, after the Supreme Court ruled some Trump-era tariffs were unlawfully imposed.

Museveni takes a seventh oath as his son moves closer to the real levers of power

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni was sworn in for a seventh five-year term on Tuesday before thousands in Kampala, having won January's election with 72% of the vote. He is 81. The opposition rejected the result.

The more closely-watched story is his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba. He has consolidated influence over the army and key decisions to the point that some analysts now describe him as the de facto ruler. Whether Tuesday was a succession ceremony in slow motion is a question Ugandans are openly asking.

M23 fighters pull back from eastern DRC towns as ceasefire pressure mounts

Rwanda-backed M23 has withdrawn from several areas in eastern DR Congo, including Walikale, under growing international pressure for a ceasefire.

Sierra Leone's opposition raises alarm over alleged drug trafficking links at state level

The leader of Sierra Leone's main opposition party has raised alarm over alleged links between the state and international narcotics networks, without naming specific individuals.

Israel sets up a special military court to try October 7 attackers, with death penalty powers

Israel has established a new military tribunal to prosecute those behind the October 7 attacks. The court can impose the death penalty, making it the first Israeli judicial body in decades with that authority.

Human rights groups have criticised the move on due-process grounds. The Israeli government says the scale and nature of the attacks justifies an exceptional legal framework.

Russia says the Sarmat nuclear missile will be deployed before the year is out

Putin confirmed the Sarmat will be deployed before the end of 2026, following a test he called a full success. It is Russia's most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.

US inflation hits 3.8% in April, a near three-year high driven by energy costs from the Iran war

American consumer prices rose 3.8% in April, the highest in almost three years. Energy costs from the Iran war were the main driver; real wages fell for a second straight month.

A Rs 1.9 billion resort on Palmar's coastline: 266 bungalows, state land, and a legal fight

266 prefabricated bungalows on 33 arpents of state land. Three restaurants, a spa, a gym, all facing the public beach at Palmar on the east coast. Developer Paddock Investment Ltd says the structures sit on concrete posts with a minimal footprint and 70% of the site stays green.

Eco-Sud and local residents have challenged the environmental impact licence at the Environment and Land Use Appeal Tribunal. Their argument: this is the same project rejected before, relaunched under a new company name. If the tribunal agrees, it reopens the question of why the licence was granted at all. Palmar is not the first east-coast community to fight this kind of battle.