EXECUTIVE Director of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Kirk Hollingsworth, has acknowledged that there were several breaches in the procedures employed to elect members of the GCCI’s Council last Thursday and has suggested that independent legal advice be sought.
The Guyana Chronicle had carried an article on Monday, March 20, where some members have expressed concern about the handling of the body’s election of the 2016/2017 Council last week and have called for a re-run of the election.
According to the aggrieved members, the Constitution of the body has been breached by the holding of the Council Election on the same day of the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
GCCI’s 127th AGM was held last Thursday at Roraima Duke Lodge in Kingston, where the president’s report, auditors’ report and financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2016 were read and the election of the 2016/2017 Council done.
Those who contend that the election was flawed argue that the rules of the Constitution do not permit for elections to be held on the day of the AGM, and deem the move “illegal.”
They further contend that the act would “permit the elements of destruction to hijack the GCCI as a junior Private Sector Commission (PSC) corporation.”
In the missive written to the Executive Management Committee and seen by this publication, Hollingsworth said “In light of media reports today and discreet inquiries by some members about the conduct of last Thursday’s elections for new Council members, a Special Executive Management Committee meeting was convened at the chamber’s offices this afternoon.”

BREACHES
He continued: “At today’s Special Executive Management Committee meeting (Minutes attached), it was established that there were four material breaches of the chamber’s rules in the conduct of elections to the Council of the Chamber at last Thursday’s (16 March) AGM. The specific breaches are as follows: Rules -7.2C, 8.1, 8.5 and 8.6 (Amended Rules of Chamber attached).”
The executive director noted however that the Special Executive Management Committee acknowledged that the procedures followed at the elections (most likely inadvertently) were hardly different from those followed at previous elections (since 2014 or thereabouts).
“Nevertheless, given the now evident material breaches, the Executive Committee suggested that independent legal opinion (Ronald Burch Smith or Mark Waldron suggested) should be sought regarding the way forward in terms of the elections of the new GCCI Council,” the letter said.
On Sunday, President of the GCCI, Vishnu Doerga, told Guyana Chronicle that the allegations are inaccurate, since the election followed standard practice, based on the established rules that govern elections.
Doerga explained that notice was sent out three weeks before the AGM to all members; a requirement he said that is mandatory. He noted, too, that nominations and elections are to be done on the same day as the AGM and voting is done by secret ballot.
“The ballot box was empty and it was verified to be empty…. It was empty and verified, then locked and then opened for counting,” a surprised Doerga said, adding: “There were no more than 21 options; the votes were tallied, and one week from now there will be elections for the executive. The rules state that elections are to be held no later than March 31, and notice was given 21 days before.”

ELECTION TRANSPARENT
Contending that the information the media has been fed is misleading, Doerga said: “The election was done in full sight of all members present by secretariat staff.” As he went on to explain, he has been a member of the GCCI for four years, and that the very rules and procedures that were employed in the past were employed at last Thursday’s election.
Moreover, Doerga stated that the attendance at the AGM was the highest in recent times, “capping a year where every single key performance metric was at an all-time high for 128 years. Membership, projects, surplus, advocacy, members support, training activities etc.”
When asked why he believes some members of the GCCI would make such allegations against the organisation, Doerga said: “A lot of members showed up who generally do not show much of an interest in the activities of the chamber and seem to have been instructed to vote in a particular way to move the chamber in a different direction.”
Doerga said though encouraged by the turnout, he is, however, concerned about “this new-found interest” but quickly pointed out that the situation illustrates democracy at work and noted that “persons will get the leadership they deserve.”
Meanwhile, Hollingsworth sought agreement to seek independent legal advice about the way forward in terms of the conduct of elections of the Council.
Members were asked to submit objections to the suggestion in writing with reasons by March 21 at 16:00hrs. It is unclear how many persons questioned the suggestion but former GCCI President, Captain Gerry Gouveia asked a few question.

WHO PAYING
Gouveia asked: “Who is paying for this legal advice? while making the point that the executives are no longer office holders.
“As far as I know, the lifelong procedures were followed in these elections certainly since I was president,” he said but questioned whether anyone tampered with the results of the Council election.
Additionally, Gouveia cautioned that members must be careful so as not to embarrass the chamber. As such, he reportedly recommended a general meeting be held to discuss the matter as the chamber is currently in a transition phase.
Guyana Chronicle understands that notwithstanding the efforts to iron out the identified breaches and to obtain legal advice, the GCCI will today go ahead with a run-off election to elect the 21st Council member and will also elect new members of its executive. The election is scheduled for 14:00hrs at the chamber’s office.