President James Michel has appointed Ms Myrna Bonnelame as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the National Information Services Agency (NISA) effective immediately. The financially autonomous agency, set up early 2010, is the publisher of the Seychelles Nation newspaper.    

Ms Myrna Bonnelame has worked in both the private and public sectors, and leaves the post of director of human resources and budget management at the National Arts Council to take up the new position at NISA.   She will assist the NISA Chief Executive Officer Merline Volcere with the implementation of plans to expand the agency’s activities. Ms Bonnelame has completed a Masters Degree in Public Administration with the University of Seychelles and the Institute of Public Administration of Ireland, as part of the Young Leaders Programme. 

Mr. Gerard Govinden is the new director and editor of the Seychelles Nation.  He replaces Mr. Robert Andre, who becomes the editorial consultant.  Mr. Govinden was the Assistant Director of Seychelles Nation since 2010. 

Gerard Govinden has 21 years experience as journalist at the Seychelles Nation, and holds a Master’s degree in Leadership and Strategic Management from the University of Seychelles and the Institute of Public Administration of Ireland, under the Seychelles Young Leaders programme and a Bachelor’s degree in French studies and translation, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada after a receiving a three-year scholarship from the Programme Canadien des Bourses de la Francophonie (PCBF).  

In 2004,  he won the Camerapix Mohamed Amin award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Media, and the Excellence in Sports Journalism Award from the Public Relations Society of Seychelles (PRSOS). That same year, he won the International Olympic Committee (IOC) trophy – Sport and Media. In 2008, he collaborated with Bernard Idelson, Nathalie Almar and Laurent Decloitre of Reunion to produce a book entitled Journalismes dans l'Océan Indien : Espaces publics en questions.

Mr Govinden has worked for French publications such as the Ouest France newspaper, and L’Equipe and France Football magazines. He continues to contribute articles in the Mauritian daily newspapers Le Mauricien and L’Express. He also wrote a 150-page commemorative book to celebrate the Seychelles National Olympic Committee’s 25 years of existence (2005). 

Mrs. Marie-Anne Lepathy has been appointed the deputy director of the Seychelles Nation. She was previously Assistant Director of Seychelles Nation since 2010. Ms Lepathy has 25 years experience as a journalist in the Seychelles Nation. She completed a  journalism course at the Seychelles Polytechnic in 1987, and has since obtained a diploma in French language (DALF).  During her extensive career Mrs. Lepathy undertook journalism training in Madagascar, Reunion, Egypt, South Africa and China, and has covered major national events as one of the most senior reporters of her generation.

Editor's Note

Photograph: from the left: Myrna Bonnelame, Gerard Govinden, Marie Anne Lepathy