August 9 set for ruling in case against Gunraj, Shadick
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj

COME August 9, High Court Judge, Jo-Ann Barlow, is expected to rule on the application filed by Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, who is seeking an order preventing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)- nominated GECOM Commissioners, Sase Gunraj and Bibi Shadick from participating as adjudicators in the hearing of the motion for his dismissal.
Last month, Lowenfield, through his attorney, Nigel Hughes, had filed a fixed-date application against GECOM, seeking, among other things, a declaration that Gunraj and Shadick, in their motion for his dismissal, cannot properly participate, hear and determine their own complaint against him.
Justice Barlow had granted an interim injunction restraining GECOM from proceeding with the hearing of the notice of motion for dismissal based on the complaint by Gunraj and Shadick.
During Wednesday’s hearing of the case, timelines for submissions were agreed upon and August 9 was set for ruling.

Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield

The embattled GECOM official wants “a declaration that the Respondent, having determined that there shall be a hearing of the Motion for dismissal of the Applicant brought by Commissioners Gunraj and Shadick, is bound to provide the applicant with a fair hearing, including the protections of the rules of natural justice.”
On June 1, 2021, Gunraj, Shadick and Manoj Narayan had tabled a motion seeking the “immediate dismissal” of Lowenfield, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers, and Clairmont Mingo, the Returning Officer for Region Four at the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.
In filing that motion, Gunraj, Shadick and Narayan relied on a gamut of reasons pertaining to breach of functions, duties, responsibilities and obligations to support their call for the dismissals.
GECOM had unanimously decided to send the trio on paid leave, effective June 28, so as to give it enough time to conclude the ongoing discussions regarding their dismissal within the shortest possible time.

People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C)-nominated GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick

The GECOM trio has come in for harsh criticism from the public at large for their alleged conduct during the elections. They are currently before the court for electoral fraud.
It is alleged that the trio, between March 2 and August 2, 2020, at Georgetown, conspired with each other, together with Volda Lawrence, Carol Smith-Joseph, Sherfern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb- Cummings, Michelle Miller and others to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes for the elections.
They and their alleged co-conspirators are all accused of inflating the results of Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Guyana’s largest voting district, to give the APNU+AFC Coalition a majority win at the polls, when in fact the PPP/C had won by 15,000 votes. This dispute resulted in several legal challenges which ended up before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which is Guyana’s highest court of appeal, and a five-month delay in the declaration of the results.

A lengthy recount of the votes eventually declared victory in favour of the PPP/C, which led to Dr. Irfaan Ali being sworn in as the President of Guyana.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, S.C., granted a fiat to attorneys-at-law, Glenn Hanoman, Mark Conway, Ganesh Hira, Arudranauth Gossai and George Thomas, to prosecute the matters on behalf of the State. In May, Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George, S.C., had ordered the release of the certified copies of the elections’ Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs) to the Commissioner of Police (ag), Nigel Hoppie, and the DPP for use in the prosecution of the cases against the GECOM officials in the lower court.

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