…PPP picks up four of six constituency seats

FOLLOWING Monday’s local government polls, the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has scored wins in four of the six constituencies in the town of Mabaruma.

The governing A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) managed to score wins in the remaining two constituencies.

According to the statistics, a total of 1808 votes were cast in the area, and of that number, the PPP scored 1006, while APNU grabbed 653. The Alliance For Change (AFC) scored 96.

While the APNU dominated the votes in the populated area of Mabaruma Township Constituency, the opposition attained most of its support in the outlying areas such as Hosororo Hill and the Thomas Hill-Smith Creek Constituency.

But the elections were not completed without hiccups and allegations.

There were allegations that residents at Smith Creek, a riverine community along the Aruka River, were paid by a businessman various sums of money in exchange for their support of the opposition.

A family at Kumaka, the town’s business hub, also told the Guyana Chronicle that they were disturbed that a male relative of theirs managed to vote by proxy for two of his nephews, although the two siblings authorised their mother to vote on their behalf by proxy.

According to a family member, when the woman turned up at Kumaka to vote on her sons’ behalf, she was told that the boys’ uncle had already voted for them. She explained that the boys had sent their identification cards to Mabaruma with their uncle from Georgetown where they work and study.

FALSE DOCUMENT
Reports are that the boys’ uncle obtained a letter of recommendation which was signed by an opposition-aligned regional official, who performs the function of Justice of the Peace. The woman became annoyed when she found out that the letter was drafted without her sons’ consent, and she became worried when she was told that the occupations of her sons were erroneously listed as laymen in the fictitious letter.

The allegations were reported to the returning officer at Mabaruma, but the family told the Guyana Chronicle that the official was not very helpful.

Elsewhere, voting within the town went smoothly and party supporters noted that the election provides an opportunity for all to work together in the interest of the town.
At the last LGEs in 2016, the two major parties scored similar numbers of seats, a result that led to a prolonged stalemate which hampered the council’s work in the first North-West town.