đź“· Photo: Wavel Ramkalawan, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Former President Wavel Ramkalawan has formally moved against the Commission of Inquiry investigating the lease and development of Assomption Island, lodging a constitutional motion in the Supreme Court through his lawyer Antony Derjacques. The filing is the latest in a long series of challenges by Ramkalawan to the inquiry, and follows months of testimony in which he defended his administration’s handling of the project while rejecting what he called witch-hunt allegations.
Ramkalawan, who served as the fifth President of Seychelles from 26 October 2020 to 26 October 2025 under the Linyon Demokratik Seselwa party, has been a sitting co-respondent in the Commission’s proceedings. He testified at length in March 2026, addressing decision-making processes, environmental approvals, foreign travel, and his interactions with investors linked to the Assomption project, consistently denying any wrongdoing.
Antony Derjacques, the lawyer for Ramkalawan, is a long-standing private practice attorney and former Minister for Transport under the LDS government. Derjacques has represented Ramkalawan across many of his major legal fights, including the 2006 Broadcasting Bill matter in which Ramkalawan and other opposition figures won SR 70,000 in damages against the Government of Seychelles, according to the published Supreme Court judgment of 19 November 2009. He is also a senior member of the Seychelles Bar with prior executive roles at the local bar association, with a career spanning private practice and service to the Office of the Attorney General.
The constitutional motion asks the Supreme Court to review the lawfulness of the inquiry process, including the conduct of proceedings and the scope of evidence taken. Such motions are heard in the Constitutional Court jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, a court that has been busy in 2026. The same bench has issued a string of significant constitutional rulings this year, including judgments in Valabhji and Others v Republic and Ors (CP 09/2022), delivered on 14 May 2026, on the powers of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles, the retrospectivity of Act 9 of 2022, asset restriction orders and other constitutional protections, as the published judgment shows.
The Assomption Commission of Inquiry is one of the most politically charged legal proceedings in Seychelles since the 2015 election petitions. The project at the centre, the planned lease and development of Assomption Island, attracted sustained criticism from the then-opposition (now ruling) United Seychelles party during the 2025 election campaign, and the inquiry is examining the previous administration’s decisions on concession structure, environmental clearances, and investor due diligence. Ramkalawan has continued to defend the project framework as lawful and beneficial, while characterising the inquiry as politically motivated.
For Seychelles, the case has higher stakes than the underlying project. The Supreme Court’s constitutional jurisdiction has been increasingly active in 2026, with the live docket touching the limits of executive power, the scope of parliamentary oversight, and the rights of individuals against state investigations. The bench’s decision on Ramkalawan’s motion will set the boundaries of how future commissions of inquiry are constituted and conducted, with consequences for any sitting government. The Judiciary of Seychelles’ 2026 decisions index lists the constitutional petitions heard so far this year, published on the official court website.
A date for the hearing of Ramkalawan’s motion is expected to be set during the court’s next sitting. The Court of Appeal, with Chief Justice Govinden, alongside Justices Burhan, Adeline, Esparon and Dodin, has been the dominant constitutional bench this term.
Sources cited: Wikipedia, “Wavel Ramkalawan” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavel_Ramkalawan); SheriaHub case law archive, 19 November 2009, “Ramkalawan and Others v Government of Seychelles (459 of 2006) [2009] SCSC 59” (https://sheriahub.com/cases/sc/caselaw/ramkalawan-ors-v-government-of-seychelles-459-of-2006-2009-scsc-59-19-november-2009); Global Anticorruption Blog, 14 May 2026, “Valabhji v Republic & Ors (CP 09/2022)” (https://globalanticorruptionblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mukesh-valabhji-v-the-republic-ors.pdf); Judiciary of Seychelles, 2026, “Decisions from the Courts” (https://www.judiciary.sc/resources/court-decisions/).
