There wasn’t much to celebrate, it’s true. Ten years of autonomy that has mostly served to drag Rodrigues backwards. And introduce to this idyllic island the social ills that have been plaguing Mauritius for a while.

Even so.

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam was expected in Rodrigues last week to mark the 10th anniversary of Rodrigues’ autonomy. Granted that 10 years ago, the opposition leader that Ramgoolam was didn’t approve of the then government’s decision to give Rodrigues its autonomy and that he actually voted against the bill.

Regardless of Ramgoolam’s wishes however, the parliament of Mauritius voted to grant autonomy to Rodrigues and parliament being sovereign this is exactly what Rodrigues got. On paper.

But let’s not quibble. When Ramgoolam came to power three years later, he did everything he could (which is not a lot as he spent most of his time trying to ignore Rodrigues) to deny what Parliament had given Rodrigues.

This speaks of a marked disrespect for institutions but let’s not tell Ramgoolam that you know how he can’t abide criticism. Anyhow. Ten years after what could have been a historic moment for Rodrigues, as the island is celebrating its autonomy, the prime minister as head of the Republic of which Rodrigues is a wonderful part, is invited to grace the celebrations as the chief guest.

And what does Ramgoolam do? He declines. He’d rather go to the Congo, it seems. Some say it’s because had he gone to Rodrigues, he would have had no excuse to fl y straight to London at the end of the official visit. Unfortunately for Rodrigues, all flights there do still have to go through Mauritius. Whereas from Congo, the PM can go AWOL and there’s nothing we can do about it save whinge and moan.

Obviously attending the Francophonie summit had the added allure of a chance meeting with François Hollande. It was indeed very amusing to see Ramgoolam, courtesy of the MBC, in Hollande’s tow until the latter suddenly took notice of our prime minister and shook hands with him. Going to Rodrigues would have meant sitting down with Serge Clair and other people who are of absolutely no use to Ramgoolam and I suppose that’s something the PM would have found tedious.

Rodrigues has gone backwards in the 10 years since its autonomy. There are no jobs for the young, especially the young professionals and to subsist, they need to either come to mainland Mauritius (where it’s easier for expats to fi nd jobs than Mauritians let alone Rodriguans). I hear many of them are moving to Australia. Teenage pregnancies are becoming a plague, alcoholism is the new trend for those idle hands and minds and the crime rate has soared.

But the prime minister of Rodrigues would rather be in London. You know, to meet lawyers. His sense of priorities is astounding.