Mauritius is a Peaceful Island Why Must we Harbour Guns Navin Ramgoolam?

A very intriguing piece of news that hit the headlines recently. Was Mauritius going to be used as a hub for a vast project of arms trafficking from Iran, United Arab Emirates to reach countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and possibly Syria?

The report of an American NGO, “Conflict Awareness Project”, revealed how Andrei Kosolapov and Sergei Denisenko ,two former associates of Victor Bout-one of the biggest arms dealers in the world  – planned to use Mauritius to supply arms to war zones.  The worst part is that the report cites Yousuf Mohamed and Zakir Mohamed, the father and brother of Shakeel Mohamed, the Minister of Labour, as the local partners.

Mauritius is indeed a strategic spot due to its location and it could very well serve as a gateway in the whole arms trafficking business between Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Moreover, tax incentives, drop-box addresses and offshore banking are the additional benefits which the dealers had their eyes on. Kathi Lynn Austin, executive director of the “Conflict Awareness Project”  who led the whole investigation ,revealed that Kosolapov wanted to copy the strategies of Victor Bout to set up an empire by fraudulently acquiring an Air Operation Certificate (AOC)from the Mauritius government.
This certificate is required for planes to take off and in order to obtain it they sought partnership with a local aviation company “Island Air System Ltd”,  the Chief  Executive Officer of which is Zakir Mohamed.
Yousuf Mohamed was supposedly the legal adviser and Shakeel Mohamed being part of the government was an added advantage. Austin further explained that they actually operated with multiple layers, shell companies and holding companies with offshore bank accounts in order to facilitate their network.
Milan Meetarbhan, the Mauritius Ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed in a letter to Austin that, a request for an AOC as mentioned in the report, was declined twice by the Mauritian government and reaffirmed all the country’s efforts to fight against trafficking of all kinds. The acquisition of an AOC is hard in Mauritius. Before it is granted, the Department of Civil Aviation carries out a thorough investigation. Something fishy must have been detected in the documents submitted for the application of the AOC, which eventually led to a rejection by the Mauritian authorities.
The local partners mentioned in the report were fast to deny the allegations of Austin. According to them, the plan was to set up an aviation company which would facilitate travelling to and from islands in the region and not to transfer arms from one part of the world to another. Shakeel Mohamed, who has been linked to this whole issue, stated that he does not know “those Russians” and has never interacted with any of them. The Minister also added that Kathi Lynn Austin has mentioned his name to make the news more sensational.
He made it clear that he cannot be guilty by association. Austin has soiled the reputation of his family and he is going to initiate legal proceedings both in Mauritius and abroad against her. For him the report holds little significance. He stated that there exist several NGOs like the “Conflict Awareness Project” across the globe and that the report was not prepared by a trusted source like the United Nations.
The whole controversy has left the people of Mauritius flabbergasted. 


Published by: Karishma Singh