Motion tabled to dismiss Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers
Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo (left) and Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield
Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo (left) and Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield

THE People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-nominated Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioners have tabled three motions, dated June 1, 2021, seeking the “immediate dismissal” of Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers and Returning Officer for Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Clairmont Mingo.

The GECOM trio came in for harsh criticism from the public at large for their alleged conduct at the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. They have since been charged, and are currently before the courts.

Lowenfield is faced with three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and three counts of Forgery; while Mingo was charged with four counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and Myers with two counts of Misconduct in Public Office.

The motion for dismissal introduced for the immediate dismissal of Lowenfield was moved by attorney-at-law, Commissioner Sase Gunraj, on the premise that Lowenfield has allegedly breached his functions, duties, responsibilities and obligations as CEO. The motion was seconded by Gunraj’s colleague attorney-at-law, Commissioner Bibi Shadick.

Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers

It is posited that the said breach of duty stemmed from the series of events which followed the March 2, 2020 Elections, including Lowenfield failing and/or refusing and/or neglecting to ensure due adherence and compliance of Section 84 of the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA) by Mingo, an officer under his supervision, during the tallying of votes recorded in the Statements of Poll (SoPs) for District Four.

In addition, that the CEO did not ensure that the tallying of votes for the District Four was done “with dispatch” and without “inordinate or undue delay” and that he failed to provide proper and lawful directions, instructions and guidance to the officers and employees of GECOM’s Secretariat in the tallying of the votes, which led to “protests, confusion and chaos” at the Ashmin’s building.

The grounds of the motion went on to state that even after complaints were lodged with the CEO, and protests erupted due to discrepancies between the SoPs in the possession of the political parties and those SoPs in Returning Officer’s possession; the CEO did not ensure the correct tabulation and tallying of the votes.

It states that Lowenfield, on or about March 7, 2020, despite an interim injunction from the High Court restraining GECOM from declaring the results of the elections until compliance with Section 84 of the ROPA, breached the injunction and prepared a final report containing unverified votes declared by Mingo, seeking to declare the A Partnership For National Unity Plus Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) as winners of the elections.

The Chief Justice, in the case of Holladar v Mingo et al on March 11, 2020, had vacated and set aside the declaration made by Mingo as being unlawful, and a breach of the Section 84 of the ROPA, and had granted an injunction restraining GECOM from declaring any results of the elections until the section was compiled with.

The motion filed on Tuesday lists that Lowenfield again acted contrary to the Chief Justice’s Orders in the Holladar case. It also lists a breach of Order 60 of 2020, created to facilitate the recount process, when Lowenfield submitted a report in which he disregarded the votes established by the recount by deducting votes in favour of the PPP/C on the grounds of alleged “irregularities and anomalies”.

Additionally, it lists that contrary to a directive issued by Chairperson of GECOM Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, by a letter dated June 16, 2020, instructing Lowenfield to prepare and submit his report pursuant to Article 177 (2) (b) of the Constitution and Section 96 of the ROPA by June 18, 2020, using the results of the recount, he failed to do so.

The grounds for the motion for dismissal also quotes the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of Mohamed Irfaan Ali v Eslyn David who noted that Lowenfield “took it upon himself to invalidate such votes as he considered ought to be invalidated” – an invalidation process which the CCJ found to be unlawful.

These and other grounds were listed in the motion filed by Gunraj, noting that the said acts and/or omissions displayed by Lowenfield cannot be seen as reasonable, impartial or fair and therefore he has violated his oath of office. Additionally, the motions list that due to the acts and/or omissions he has caused a loss of public confidence and trust in the electoral process.

A similar motion was moved by attorney-at-law, Commissioner Bibi Shadick and seconded by attorney-at-law, Commissioner Manoj Narayan for the immediate dismissal of Roxane Meyers. Meanwhile, Narayan moved a motion for the dismissal of Clairmont Mingo, which was seconded by Gunraj.

The grounds for the motion for dismissal of Mingo has referenced, among other things, the use of an authorised document of unknown origin, known as a spreadsheet, as the basis for the tabulation of the votes for District Four and that the votes announced by Mingo were materially different from the SoPs in the possession of the political parties.

In addition to Lowenfield, Mingo and Myers, Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Volda Lawrence; Opposition activist, Carol Joseph; the CEO’s clerks, Michelle Miller, Denise Bob-Cummings; Elections Officer, Shefern February and Information Technology Officer, Enrique Livan were also charged.

They are all accused of inflating the results of Region Four – Guyana’s largest voting district – to give the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition a majority win at the March 2 polls when in fact, the PPP/C had won by 15,000 more votes.

Just last week, Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George, S.C. ordered the release of the certified copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) from the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections, to the Commissioner of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie, and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C, intended to be used to prosecute Lowenfield et al.

In December last, Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh had told the Guyana Chronicle that the decision to make any administrative change lies with the entire commission and not just her. However, the issue was not yet, at that time, raised at the commission level.

With three nominated commissioners each from the two major political parties, the ultimate success of the motions for dismissal moved by the PPP/C-nominated commissioners rests with the vote of the Chairperson.

Some $1.1 billion was budgeted for in the 2021 Budget towards the hosting of Guyana’s Local Government Elections (LGE) intended to be held this year; several government officials have chastised Lowenfield and his colleagues and have registered their concern about going to elections with them at the helm of GECOM.

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