The wheel has turned in Madagascar and nothing illustrates this more than the silent and surveilled headquarters of the mammoth business owned by Mamy Ravatomanga, the ex-president’s wealthy backer who escaped to Mauritius just ahead of last week’s coup.In the world before September 25, the start of the Gen Z-led protests that culminated in the ouster of Andry Rajoelina on October 14, Ravatomanga was feared for his connections and influence.But in the near-daily demonstrations, calls for the arrest of the 56-year-old referred to as “Blue Stone” — the translation of his last name — were as loud as those demanding the resignation of Rajoelina.”Before, we were very afraid of him; we didn’t dare talk about what he was doing,” said Poussy Ravelomanantsoa, 40, as she passed Pradon Villa, the headquarters of his Sodiat group. “Now, there’s a bit more freedom,” the call centre worker said.”Those who dared to oppose Mamy Ravatomanga often paid a high price,” Frederic Lesne, ex-director of Transparency International Initiative Madagascar (TI-MG), told AFP.Former minister Harry Laurent Rahajason, for example, was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2023 for slander after testifying against Ravatomanga in a trial in Paris over rosewood trafficking.In another case, “Just days after the publication of a press article revealing the extent of mismanagement in the lychee sector, the whistleblower behind these revelations was arrested for alleged false accusations,” Lesne said. Ravatomanga’s Sodiat dominates Madagascar’s lychee exports, according to investigations by Africa Intelligence and Le Monde. It has also secured the lion’s share of the Indian Ocean island’s highly lucrative vanilla sector.Founded in 1990 as a transport company, the conglomerate has its fingers in many pies, including distribution for Toyota, aviation, private security, media, construction, healthcare, real estate, hospitality, tourism and golf.But now the red, grey and glass building that serves as its headquarters in Antananarivo is abandoned, the shop windows that earlier showcased pret-a-porter now empty.Guards are stationed every 10 metres (30 feet) at this symbol of the era of Rajoelina, who came to power in a 2009 coup and was elected in 2018 and again in 2023 in disputed polls.Soldiers from the CAPSAT military unit that seized power on Tuesday — its commander Michael Randrianirina was sworn in as president on Friday — have patrolled near the building since Monday, a driver at a nearby taxi stand said. – Untouchable -Ravatomanga, who once seemed untouchable, fled to neighbouring Mauritius as CAPSAT threw its weight behind the youth-led protest movement on October 11. The Mauritian cabinet announced Friday he was under investigation for money laundering. Its Financial Crimes Commission said it has frozen his funds after “receiving credible information that Mr Ravatomanga had transferred a large sum of money to Mauritius, intending to move these funds to another jurisdiction and leave Mauritian territory.” The Madagascar lawyer following the case, Fanirisoa Ernaivo, told AFP Interpol had been asked to issue an international arrest warrant for the businessman. A CAPSAT spokesman said Madagascar’s judiciary had also issued a warrant. The Sodiat group did not respond to AFP’s inquiries. “The cooperation with the Mauritian authorities is very commendable,” Ernaivo said. “Many cases have never been pursued in Madagascar due to this man’s influence on the Malagasy judiciary,” she said.In France, an investigation into Ravatomanga for trafficking endangered rosewood, corruption and tax fraud was reportedly dropped in 2023. When his name appeared in the 2016 Panama Papers tax scandal, Ravatomanga — who was also Madagascar’s consul for Serbia and Ivory Coast — defended himself saying “not all offshore companies are necessarily illegal.” Researcher Adrien Ratsimbaharison, author of a book on the 2009 coup, said Rajoelina, Ravatomanga and another wealthy businessman and politician, Naina Andriantsitohaina, had formed a leadership “triumvirate”. “These three men were friends,” he said. “Mamy and Naina were among the wealthiest people in Madagascar; they were essentially his bankers, enabling him to exert his influence.” “In return, Naina and Mamy used the regime to enrich themselves, becoming even wealthier than before their rise to power in 2009,” he said.
