<B>Good governance record better than average </B>

The African report on good governance, which follows a conference held in Addis Abeba in mid-October, will be published in 2005. This report is the first African one conducted by the Economic Commission of Africa to evaluate the “progress made towards good governance in Africa” among 28 African countries. Mauritius gets through with better than average results on the 23 criteria used. Its best scores are in: efficiency of its political representation system, independence and credibility of its electoral system, respect of the state of law and power of its investment policies. But, its drawbacks concern the efficiency of its institutions, the fight against corruption and institutions responsible for law enforcement. If it sticks out as the African country with the highest participation in elections, it unfortunately ranks only 16th for women’s representation in politics and decision-making.

<B>Bank employee tortured and murdered</B>

Gérald Auguste, an employee of MCB Trianon branch, was found tied up and strangled in his bathroom. Investigators say that he must have been tortured for his bankcard pin number. Rs 18,000 were withdrawn from his account an hour before his death, which, according to the police, was between 8 or 9 pm on the Sunday. The latter believe he was at his place in Quatre-Bornes when three persons at least came in, beat and strangled him. The attackers must have been known to him, as there was no sign of break-in. His mother received a phone call telling her that her son was in Flic-en-Flac and that she had no reason to worry.