With the newly elected government setting the wrong doings of the previous incumbent as benchmarks all while extending past practices and nurturing their own breed of sycophants,  building  trust in institutions is an impossible task. The breeze of hope sweeping over the country on 11^th November 2024, leading many to believe in a possible betterment ahead, has quickly  churned into despair reminding us of the saying “Trust dies but mistrust blossoms.”

Why it should matter ?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has over the last 4 years underlined the momentous strain faced by governments across the world to drawing and maintaining of  trust in public institutions.    The relevance is such that OECD has gone to the extent of conducting annual surveys on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions. Apart from the global challenges namely : environmental transition, geopolitical tensions and social consequences of economic development, countries like Mauritius are facing indigenous constraints of their own which drag down the level of trust in institutions and ultimately in governments.

A threat to democracy

To a large extent the current decay can be reasonably attributed to  effects from years of neoliberalism. By limiting the role of our institutions  to establishing conditions necessary for exercising of  private property rights and free markets, neoliberalism has weakened the mechanisms enabling the good functioning of democracy. Thinkers such as Thomas Piketty and Nobel prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz convincingly affirm, decades of neoliberalism has resulted in considerable deterioration of economic and social inequality, fostering fatalism and populist identity drifts. The happy few  use their influence to shape policies further to benefit their interests, entrenching their power and hindering democratic processes.

Another deep-rooted cause of the blatant decadence is what contemporary thinkers define as  Political Moral Laxity. Which is the tolerance of dishonesty and corrupt practices by people entrusted with political or administrative power. All their actions benefit private interests to the detriment of public welfare. As the euphoria of last November fades away, countrymen are waking up to the reality of continued ineffectiveness,  prevalence of nepotism and corruption which generate a collective sense of helplessness, anomie and distrust of the political system. Further to distorting of democratic values, years of systemic political inefficiency and  institutional failure have pushed people to the limits of survival.

The noxious status-quo

The ongoing investigations involving  high ranking police officers are  far from addressing the real issues affecting the police force. Deeply rooted, the evil has the ability to react instantly to any possible threat and ensure the continuity of  organised criminal activities ranging from, racketeering, money laundering, smuggling to  drugs trafficking . While the widely covered investigations into swindling of hundreds of millions of “Reward Money” by its  officers can sustain the perception of the police force being the most corrupt institution, the fact is that the daily media reports  only expose the  visible tip of a wider crime industry valued in billions.

Public trust in institutions erode due to manipulation by politicians with a specific partisan or personal objective. Actions such as directing investigations, prosecutions, or other actions to target political opponents or protect interest of cronies, undermine the credibility of these institutions .   The Bank of Mauritius (BOM), Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM), Financial Services Commission (FSC), Financial intelligence Unit ( FIU), Financial Crime Commission (FCC), Economic Development Board (EDB) and State Law Office (SLO)  top the chart of institutions which often turn rogue. Lack of results coupled with cases like  Alvaro Sobrinho, Glen Agliotti, Peter Uricek, and many others are there to justify the despair and anger of tax payers. We all do wonder what happened to all cases handled by the same FCC officials as at 11^th November 2024. The midnight execution of BAI stands as another  vivid evidence of how institutions can be weaponised to meet political objectives.

Some might argue, such mishaps are due to incompetency or inadvertence, as in the case of  Anushka Bogdanov whose services were  retained by the SEM  to share expertise on diligence, sustainability and ethics. Early July 2025, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)  imposed a R500,000 fine and a 10-year directorship ban on Anushka Bogdanov, a former non-executive director of EOH Holdings for having fabricated  a PhD in International Finance from the London Business School. Anushka Bogdanov was found  in breach of  Listing Requirements namely lack of integrity and ethical standards. But considering the track record of the SEM with particular focus on cases namely :  New Mauritius Hotels (NMH) and United Investment Limited (UIL),  it would be fair to say that on its own it  is far more bogus than its partners.

It is surely not by  inadvertence that the Governor of the Central Bank, also Chairman of the FSC has during the press conference where he deemed appropriate to talk about his childhood and family,  maintained silence over EU sanctioned, Red Bird Corporate Services Ltd, ( subsidiary of ABC Group). A governor seen cheering energetically the merger of ENL & Rogers as if he never did leave his former employer.  When all institutions muster to serve the interest of their sacred cows, then its hard to deny the existence of a state within the state. A parallel dimension which absorbs every single resource of the country and where those at the helm of institutions run errands for their masters.

With prominent members of  the government openly claiming, political affinity should be a criteria during selection process, appointment of officials is indeed an area of concern for the public. As experienced over the last days, public  exasperation will only lead to widespread relentless commotion. The recent appointment of Law officers from the SLO to the rank of  Senior Counsels does rub salt to the bloodily  wounds. Hard to understand how mere Law Officers (unlike independent registered barristers), acting on behalf of their office,   who have moreover  participated in drafting of laws deemed unconstitutional, abetted and fended  positions politically motivated be bestowed with such high attribution. No wonder the leach from the decay stinks.

With : a) Enforcement agencies failing to curb drug trafficking b) monopoly players turned economists prescribing  budgetary measures strengthening the shadow economy, c) oligarchs  accelerating concentration of economic power, d) senior ministers & media striving to perdure  hegemony of  the Energy Cartel and  e)  government pimping its strategic assets, obviously amidst such dark fog, change is hard to be seen, leaving only despair to be felt.

While envoys of the government would rush to quote “Rome was not built in a day” , they do deliberately ignore the fact that Rome also,  did not fall in a day. Its destruction followed years of unattended decay and growing distrust. The fall of Rome beautifully captured by the last great Roman satirist, Juvenal (127 AD) who with his legendary savage wit asked  “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” ( Who will guard the guards). Even today, ensuring,  those entrusted with oversight are themselves acting responsibly, without abusing their power is a conundrum for our society. From government to corporates, the question remains more than ever, relevant.