Section 6: The Board

6. The Board (1) The administration and control of the affairs of the Welfare Fund shall vest in a Board to be known as the Board of the Welfare Fund, which shall consist of— (a) a Chairperson appointed by the Prime Minister; (b) a representative of the Prime Minister’s Office; [Issue 4] C9A – 2 (c) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of finance; (d) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of family welfare; (e) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of social security; (f) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of education; (g) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of health; (h) a representative of the Ministry responsible for the subject of youth; and (i) 7 representatives of the Chagossian community, 2 of whom shall be children of members of the Chagossian community. (2) (a) The members referred to in subsection (1) (b) to (h) shall be appointed by the respective Ministers concerned. (b) The members referred to in subsection (1) (i) shall be elected in accordance with the regulations made under this Act from among, and by, the members of the Chagossian community registered in the register maintained under section 8 and children of members of the Chagossian community. (c) In this subsection— “child of a member of the Chagossian community” means a child of a member of the Chagossian community who is a citizen of Mauritius and is resident in Mauritius, and to whom an identity card so identifying that person has been issued by the Board under section 7 (2) (b). (3) No person shall be eligible to be a member of the Board if he is a member of the National Assembly or of a local authority or holds an office in a political party. (4) A member shall hold office— (a) in the case of an appointed member, for a term of 2 years; (b) in the case of an elected member, for a term of 2 years, but shall be eligible for reappointment or re-election, as the case may be. (5) A person shall cease to hold office if he— (a) gives one month’s notice of resignation of office to the person who made the appointment or, in the case of an elected member, to the Chairperson; or (b) becomes a member of the National Assembly or of a local authority or the holder of an office in a political party. C9A – 3 [Issue 4] (6) An elected member may be removed or suspended from office by the Minister in any of the circumstances described in section 37 (3) (b) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Act and, for the purpose of this subsection, the reference to the expression “in the opinion of the person who has the power to appoint him” in section 37 (3) (b) (iii) to (v) shall be deemed to be reference to the opinion of the Minister. (7) The members of the Board shall be paid such fees and allowances as the Minister shall determine. [S. 6 amended by s. 4 of Act 10 of 2011 w.e.f. 21 May 2011; s. 3 of Act 3 of 2012 w.e.f. 2 June 2012.]