‘I am one of the rare people to have made it full circle in the criminal justice system’

New Commissioner of Police, Kishnan Labonté, has officially sworn to uphold the Constitution of Seychelles and administer law and order without fear or favour.

The official swearing in of Commissioner Labonte took place yesterday morning at State House before the President of the Republic Danny Faure, Vice-President Vincent Meriton, Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, Speaker of the National Assembly Patrick Pillay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Mathilda Twomey, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Nicholas Prea, other leaders in the National Assembly and high officials.

Also duly present were members of the commissioners’ family, namely his wife Jeanette Labonte, his son and daughter as well as his step-daughter.

As prescribed by Article 160(1) of the Constitution, Kishnan Labonte was last week nominated as Commissioner of Police by President Danny Faure, and his nomination was subsequently approved by the National Assembly.

With the ceremony yesterday, Mr Labonte officially replaces former Commissioner Reginald Elizabeth whose resignation took effect two days prior, on October 7.

Agents and officers of local law enforcement agencies have conducted a two-day special joint exercise whereby they intensified ship boarding, coastal patrols, airport luggage and body searches with emphasis made on trans-border criminal activities like human trafficking, drug smuggling, vehicle thefts, contrabands, wildlife related crimes at all points of entry as well as on the roads.

Dubbed USALAMA the exercise is the fourth of its kind and is done annually and was conducted here on Wednesday and Thursday at the same time as it was being carried out in other countries of the region which are members of the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) like Seychelles.