Elections CoI report to be presented in ‘shortest time’ – Chair

After24 days of hearings, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections ended on Friday, February 10, 2023.

The elections inquiry began hearings on November 4, 2022. The members of the Commission are Justice Stanley John, Retired Justice of Appeal in Turks and Caicos (Chairman); Justice Godfrey P. Smith, SC, former Attorney General, High Court Judge and Acting Justice of Appeal, Eastern Caribbean Court; and Justice Carl Singh, former Chancellor, Guyana. Evidence during inquiry was led by Trinidadian Senior Counsel, Sophia Chote. The other legal personnel included Natasha Veira and Keoma Griffith. The Secretary to the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) was Javed Shadick.

The Chairman said, “In thanking everyone for the role they played…what we have seen and heard over the past several weeks we will distill and in the shortest of time present a report to His Excellency the President.”

According to the Terms of Reference, the commissioners will make recommendations as deemed fit and necessary to permit GECOM to discharge its statutory functions as prescribed by the Representation of the People Act. Upon completion of the CoI, the commission will present “its report, findings and recommendations” to the President, in writing, within seven months.

Results Would Have Been Known

Meanwhile, Chote, in comments, explained that based on the evidence provided to the Commission, the major political parties, the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC Coalition, would have known the results of the Elections based on the Statements of Poll. “I don’t think it is unreasonable for this commission to infer that after the close of polls on the second perhaps by the next day, the two juggernauts would have had the totals,” she said.

According to her, this could explain why “things then went” left after the election results were known. “There is really no reasonable and lawful explanation for what took place,” she said.

According to the lawyer, Guyanese expected the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to “do the right thing” given the Commission’s mandate. The question before the Commission, she added, is “Did these people do the right thing?” She added, “The actions of those who wanted to pervert the court of law, turn- ing GECOM into a dark and opaque place…could have led to very serious consequences for this country…I hope those who decided to take such actions as they did have by now recognised how dangerous what they did was to the legal and social and moral fabric of Guyana.”

Chote added that while the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in addressing a related case referred to the former Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, as a “lone ranger, “All of what occurred could not have happened had he been a lone ranger.” She added that Guyanese were held at ransom because of the “activity of these people from the fourth of March onwards.”

NO POLITICAL AGENDA

Chote also addressed concerns about a “political agenda” influencing the work of the Commission of Inquiry, specifically since representatives from six political parties testified at the Inquiry.

She said, “These people were adversaries for the 2020 election but yet when they come to give you the evidence, there is a remarkable coincidence in the account of what they have presented….I think we can safely put aside any question about political affinity in the conduct of this commission in its inquiry, and certainly in its analysis of the evidence, and its report.”

Notably, Former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence; APNU+AFC activist Carol Smith-Joseph; APNU+AFC-appointed commissioner on the Local Government Commission (LGC), Nicola Denise Trotman; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Karen Cummings; former Chief Elections Officer

(CEO), Keith Lowenfield; his Deputy Roxanne Myers, former GECOM District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; and GECOM staff members Sheffern February, Denise Babb-Cummings, Carolyn Duncan, Enrique Livan and Michelle Miller, along with Senior Superintendent, Phillip Azore, all opted to remain silent and not testify before the CoI.

Court Action

Notably, several high-level officials of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the APNU+AFC are facing charges before the courts for issues relating to the elections.

President Dr. Irfaan Ali announced an International Commission of Inquiry into the debacle that was Guyana’s March

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Amerindian and hinterland communities will see accelerated development as government will be investing $35 billion in 2023, for infrastructural improvements as well as programmes that will improve their well-being.

Vice President, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo made the disclosure while engaging with Amerindian leaders on Wednesday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).

This is in addition to the $4.6 billion (US$22 million) earned from the sale of Guyana’s carbon credit to Hess Corporation for 30 per cent of the country’s forest. This money will be disbursed to these communities by next week.

“If you look at our budget expenditure on health, on education, on roads in the hinterland, it’s going to be about $35 billion,” he relayed to over 200 Amerindian leaders who were present at the engagement.

Dr Jagdeo said a total of $8 billion will be expended to upgrade hinterland roadways. Some $5 billion under the Ministry of Public Works and $3 billion through the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Also, 32 bridges are being constructed from Kurupukari to Lethem, which will improve accessibility for residents plying that route. “We’re putting in concrete bridges so that trucks can run in any season,” he explained.

Over 30,000 solar panels are expected to be delivered by the end of the year, benefitting all communities. “That would be an important task, a promise that we made, but because of the delivery schedule, it’s coming from India, it’s taking some time to get here,” the Vice President stated. Discussions were also held with leaders to identify priority projects that were catered for in the $3 billion supplementary budget that was passed in 2022.

The monies were set aside by government after Amerindian leaders compiled a list of needs for their communities at the 2022 National Toshaos’ Council Conference. “We want to make sure every community get something from the $3 billion that’s there. That is separate from this money we are talking about today,” the Vice President highlighted.

Dr Jagdeo said the interests and affairs of Amerindians were neglected by the past APNU+AFC administration as 2,000 Community Service Officers (CSOs) were left unemployed and work on the Amerindian Land Titling (ATL) project was stagnant. Upon assumption to office, the PPP/C Government reinstated the CSO programme and rehired 2,500 persons and immediately began work on the land titling project. “Even things that we did not put in our manifesto, we have been working on since we got into office,” he underscored.