SPNM’s Moumou Calls for Faith-Based Rehabilitation and Fuel Tax Cuts to Tackle Drug Crisis
VICTORIA, Seychelles — Robert Moumou, presidential candidate for the Seychelles People’s National Movement (SPNM) and his running mate Françoise Larue continued their campaign ahead of the September 27, 2025 election, with Mr Moumou outlining a plan to tackle the drug crisis using both scientific and faith-based rehabilitation methods. A former director of Centre Mont Royale with 16 years in the rehabilitation sector, he argued that spiritual programmes have proven effective globally and that faith-based organisations should receive government resources, including staff budgets and basic necessities for clients.
Mr Moumou also proposed a levy on alcohol producers to fund rehabilitation, arguing that alcohol remains the number one health issue in Seychelles. ‘At one point, the Ministry of Health revealed that almost 60 per cent of hospital patients were admitted for alcohol-related conditions,’ he said. On the cost of living, he criticised the government’s silence on fiscal policy, pointing to fuel pricing as a key example — noting that the government takes a 43 per cent share of diesel costs, and that a meaningful reduction of R1.50 would ease the burden on families far more than token reductions of 50 cents.
The SPNM candidate also highlighted housing affordability, noting that a simple bedsitter on the private market costs around R10,000 — far above the means of most ordinary Seychellois workers. He said his overriding goal is to resolve problems that have been left unaddressed for years, and to make government genuinely responsive to the daily needs of the people.
