AN alert APNU+AFC scrutineer foiled an attempt by a senior official of the PPP/C in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) to allegedly mislead GECOM about his official place of residence.

Carol Smith-Joseph, Deputy Chief Scrutineer of the APNU/AFC Coalition, said that the incident, which took place on Thursday last, prompted her to write a letter to the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield, about the behavior of the official who she identified as former PPP/C MP and current head of the PPP/C Regional Office in Region Five, Mr. Faizal Mohamound Jafarally.

She disclosed that based on reports, on October 1, 2019, Mr. Jafarally presented himself to the GECOM office at Fort Wellington West Coast Berbice to initiate a transfer from Division 6114848 in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne) to Division 523112H in Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice) giving his home address as 155 Waterloo West Coast Berbice.

On October 3, 2019, in keeping with the conventions of the claims and objections period, a GECOM official and two scrutineers, one from the PPP/C and another from the APNU/AFC visited the address given to carry out a verification. When they arrived at 155 Waterloo WCB, it was found to be the address of the PPP/C Regional Office in Region Five.

Joseph said that the driver of the vehicle in which the GECOM official and the scrutineers were being transported tooted the horn on his vehicle and Mr. Jafarally presented himself to the team.

Joseph said that it was reported to her that he told the officials that he had been living at the PPP/C Regional Office in Region Five for the past three years. The GECOM official signed the verification and the PPP/C scrutineer signed as well but the APNU/AFC scrutineer refused to sign because the address provided by Mr. Jafarally was not a residence, but an office.

The APNU/AFC scrutineer, who is very familiar with the district, also knew from past observations that Mr. Jaffarally did not live at that address as he claimed. Indeed he had never lived there but was from Region Six and would normally stop at an address at Bath Settlement West Coast Berbice in Division No.5231128 whenever he visits Region Five.

Joseph said that as a result of the report from the APNU AFC scrutineer, she had dispatched a letter to the Chief Elections Officer yesterday, objecting to the transfer of Mr. Jafarally’s current address to a “residential address” that is, in reality, the PPP/C Headquarters in Region Five. The objection is carbon copied to the returning officer at Fort Wellington and to Ms. Amna Ally MP Chief Scrutineer.