Three officers of the Ministry of Health of Mauritius were suspended

Wednesday, three officers of the Ministry of Health, namely permanent secretary Om Kumar Dabidin, permanent acting secretary Jayraj Hauroo and permanent acting secretary Ajay Kumar Utchanah, were suspended from their posts until further notice.

The three officials were interdicted from their post until the enquiry of the Independent Commission Against Corruption on the MedPoint case is completed. They were charged under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (POCA) on July 22.They were informed of their suspension through a letter from secretary to Cabinet and head of the Civil Service, Suresh Seeballuck.

They were earlier transferred but following the dismissal of the former minister of Health, Maya Hanoomanjee, were suspended. Seeballuck said that the rules of the Public Service Commission stipulate that the officers should be suspened immediately after they are charged and arrested.

However, it would have been unfair to take action against them as Hanoomanjee was also charged but held her post.

“However, after Hanoomanjee resigned, we took the appropriate action,” said Seeballuck.

The president of the Federation of Civil Services and Other Unions, Toolsyraj Benydin labelled these suspensions as “politically motivated” and added that the public officers were pressurised to act wrongly.

He urged the government to present the Public Service Bill as soon as possible as it would better protect civil servants by separating the responsibilities of ministers and civil servants