–says GPSCCU board member

FOLLOWING the recent motion of no-confidence against Chairman of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union (GPSCCU), Trevor Benn, board member Gillian Pollard has disclosed that the unauthorised disclosure of confidential information, the lust for power and other factors led to the decision to remove him from the post.

Pollard, while speaking at a press conference held at the credit union’s Hadfield Street office on Monday, claimed that the cooperative relationship between Benn and the other board members started to “shift” after his plan to lobby board members to have him hold both the chairmanship and the chief executive officer (CEO) position failed.

She told the media that had Benn received the necessary support to go forward simultaneously holding both posts, he would have been answerable to himself, and given “ultimate power and unhindered authority” to make decisions on the operations of the GPSCCU.

According to Pollard, the committee’s Vice-Chairman Patrick Mentore later put a motion to the Committee of Management to have the CEO and the Chairman position merged on behalf of Benn. She noted that when this was also voted down, the relationship between Benn and the other board members took a negative turn.

She further claimed that on April 20, 2022, Benn appeared on a popular Online programme, where derogatory terms were used to describe Directors of the Board. She alleged that it was during this same programme that Benn disclosed sensitive information regarding the credit union.

She noted that this was a direct breach of the code of conduct for board members of the GPSCCU, who were all required to sign non-disclosure agreements to protect the sensitivity of the information coming out of the credit union.

Pollard noted that Benn refused to defend his behaviour on the programme as he and the vice-chairman opted not to showed up to the emergency committee meeting held on April 21,2022, in the credit union’s boardroom. Due to the lack of response from Benn, the ten committee members who were present, voted to pass the motion of no-confidence against Benn.

In maintaining that the Benn was properly removed, she explained to the media that the committee members acted in accordance with the powers they have. This power she said allows for the removal of any committee member from the chairmanship and for the voting in of a new chairman.

Pollard was adamant that while board members have moved to have Benn removed from the post of chairman, the board members are committed to continuing to work with Benn as a regular member of the board until the holding of the next Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Meanwhile, Benn, who subsequently spoke to the media outside the building, called the allegations “completely false”.

He noted that he has never divulged confidential information but has spoken about information that is already in the public domain. He contended that this information was leaked by the very members of the committee who voted to oust him.

Benn is adamant that he never received an invitation to the April 21 meeting at which the motion was voted on. He added that he was never even told of the allegations which were used to form the basis for the motion.

According to the committee members, at next meeting of the committee scheduled for Saturday, a decision will be made on the way forward.