THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has begun advertising with the intention of filling some of the key vacancies within its secretariat after those positions became vacant when some recalcitrant officials were dismissed.

GECOM, as its statutory meeting on Tuesday last, approved advertising for seven senior positions to be filled within the agency. Notably, these posts are Chief Elections Officer (CEO) which was previously occupied by Keith Lowenfield and Deputy Chief Elections Officer, which was occupied by Roxanne Myers.

The other positions are Assistant Chief Elections Officer, Chief Accountant, Legal Officer, Logistics Officer and Civic and Voter Education Manager. These vacancies will be advertised for a period of two weeks. The advertisement commenced on October 1, 2021.

The commission in a press release explained that it is adamant that the hiring process would be transparent and the process would be completed within the shortest time possible, so that the work programme of the agency could proceed.

The vacancies are being advertised through a combination of media, including but not limited to newspapers, radio, television, GECOM’s website and social media and interested applicants can access the job description and terms of reference for each role at www.gecom.org.gy/home/vacancies.

In August 2021, after weeks of deliberation and multiple delays, GECOM voted to terminate the employment contracts of its three statutory officers, Lowenfield, Myers and District Four Returning Officer for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, Clairmont Mingo, who have been accused of electoral fraud.

The terminations stemmed from the successful passage of three motions piloted by the commission’s PPP/Civic-nominated Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Manoj Narayan and were possible only after the motions received the support of GECOM Chairperson, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.

The appointments of persons to these key positions will clear the way for the hosting of Local Government Elections (LGEs) which are due this year. Several high-ranking government officials had expressed strong reservations regarding going into Local Government Elections with the same persons who are accused of attempting to steal the March 2020 Regional and General Elections at the helm of the commission’s secretariat.

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

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 and 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, 2020 polls, when in fact the PPP/C had won the elections by 15,000 votes.