Madagascar’s ex-leader held in army camp

ANTANANARIVO

Madagascar’s former leader Marc Ravalomanana who was arrested on Monday hours after his surprise homecoming from South Africa, has been in jail, people who visited him on Thursday said.

His ‘cell’ is a tiny room with a toilet and a shower inside a villa within the navy forces camp in Antsiranana, about 1,000km north to the capital Antananarivo.

The place, guarded by heavily-armed soldiers has been put under tight security, the French International Radio, RFI, reported.

Isolated and deprived of any communication means the former leader can go nowhere as his little room remains locked from outside.

A restaurant situated close to the barrack was asked to provide his meals.

“It is very difficult to access the location. Each visitor must undergo three different searches before reaching him,” said Mr Guy Rivo Randrianarisoa, a member of the parliamentary group supporting the former leader.

He said only close family members could see him and the visits were strictly between 9am and 2pm.

Mr Randrianarisoa accompanied ex-First Lady Lalao Ravalomanana and her son Tojo Ravalomanana who were on Thursday allowed to visit the detained leader in a military camp in Antsiranana.

They have yet to issue new demands to the government for the next visits.

The law maker furthermore reported a message from President Ravalomanana and his family who persistently called the national reconciliation’s acceleration.

The duration of his detention remains unlimited so far.

“It depends upon the evolution of the situation. It is not only about his personal safety and his health; it is also about the calmness in the whole country,” the Chief of Staff of the President’s Office, Mr Henri Rabary-Njaka, told reporters.

Meanwhile, the detained leader’s family seems to be worried about the follow-up.

“Our request is that it is necessary to engage the dialogue now and to speed up the ‘truth and reconciliation’ between all the leaders and the Malagasy population,” claimed Mr Randrianarisoa who added: “We call for the improvement of his detention conditions as we witnessed an imprisoned person.”
Last Monday, President Hery Rajaonarimampianina said that Mr Ravalomanana was neither arrested nor jailed.

At a press conference held at the South African embassy in Antananarivo, African diplomats from the Union African and the 15-regional bloc SADC – which had mediated the Malagasy crisis from 2009 to 2014 – insisted on the fact that the quick completion of the national reconciliation is essential for Madagascar.

The SA ambassador, Mr Gert Grobler, stated his government is steady to get involved in the whole process.

The way by which former leader Ravalomanana, who had been in self-imposed exile in South Africa since his ouster in 2009, could “secretly” left the rainbow nation, and reach his home in Antananarivo has remained an enigma till now.

Refraining from giving further details, the South African government said that investigation has been already on track.

“It is possible that President Ravalomanana would have hired a private aircraft at the Lanseria Airport which is dedicated to any businesspersons and remains the one airport out of control of the police and the army,” the pilot Franck Rakotoarison explained.

“The special flight may have headed to Mozambique first. Then it would have joined the Malagasy border from there,” he suspected.

“Moreover, Madagascar has never been equipped with secondary radar that detects any unidentified aircrafts entering the country’s airspace,” the expert insisted.

Since the expiry of Mr Ravalomanana’s passport in January, the Malagasy government has refused to issue a new one for him.