FORMER Police Division 4 ‘A’ Commander, Edgar Thomas, has said that a number of security decisions were made without his knowledge during the 2020 elections fiasco, and that he was later punished for refusing to carry out instructions.

In his testimony before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the 2020 General and Regional Elections, Commander Thomas said that some members of the police ‘top brass’ had roles to the play in the happenings at the Ashmin’s building, where the Guyana Elections Commission’s command centre was housed.

Called as the second witness for the CoI, Thomas recounted that he was called to a meeting in February 2020, during which he was informed that his main responsibility as the police commander was to provide security for GECOM’s building and command centre at High and Hadfield Streets.

Several police officers and GECOM officials, including then Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers were also present.
He was tasked with taking care of the external security of the building, with specific instructions for two officers to be posted on the inside. These were the instructions agreed upon by Myers, Lowenfield and his superior, Deputy Commissioner Maxine Graham, Thomas testified.

Days after Polling Day, Thomas recounted, he received a call from the police’s operating room regarding information from the command centre. It was indicated that someone who was part of the tabulation process removed a flash drive and computer from the tabulation centre, and was seen in another room, allegedly tampering with the data.
Thomas told the Commission that when he arrived at the location, he received multiple reports from persons there about the alleged tampering incident. These complaints came from political party agents and representatives of several observer missions, he added.

Having received these complaints, Thomas said he made his way to a room and identified the individual whom they were told had left the tabulation room with the flash drive. That person was later identified as one Enrique Livan. At the time, Thomas said, Livan was seen with a closed laptop computer.

At that stage, there was a discussion, and his intention was to get that computer and flash drive in the possession of the police. Lowenfield was then contacted, and later arrived at the command centre and was informed about Thomas’ intention to take the said items into police possession.

In the presence of several party representatives, he said, discussions ensued. This then led to the data from that flash drive being put on a big screen in the tabulation room.

NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCES
At this time, party representatives indicated that there were noticeable differences between the data that was on the screen and what was recorded when the tabulation exercise was stopped.
When these observations were made, political parties called for a hard copy of the verified data to be shown there, and upon its delivery, the differences were again highlighted.

The following day, March 5, 2020, Thomas said, he received a call concerning a bomb being planted at the building, and upon arriving there, he urged persons to vacate the premises for their own safety. Many persons did not comply, he said.

It was on that same day that things took a turn for the worse, Thomas said, as he was informed that Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo had made a declaration.
He said that ranks were seen guarding the doors to the building and preventing persons from entering. These instructions, he said, were reportedly given by his deputy, Senior Superintendent Phillip Azore.

He instructed the ranks there to allow the Party Agents and Observers to enter the building. At the same time, he recalled, the GECOM Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh was seen leaving the building, accompanied by Azore.

The Deputy Chief Elections Officer at that time intensified her calls to get persons to exit the building. Many persons refused to do so, including GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj, who highlighted the need for Statements of Poll and other elections-related material within the facility to be secured before persons left.

“She was more intent on getting people out of the building; she engaged the police to get people out of the building,” Thomas told the inquiry.
“She was shouting in an aggressive manner… She said, ‘I want you all out of the building,’” Thomas said. He said that he believed that that remark was directed at him.

Subsequently, he said, Myers could be heard on the phone with his then superior, Mr. Graham, claiming that he was not complying with the order to remove persons from the building.

Thomas recounted that while there, he also saw several members of the Police Special Branch, but noted that he had never made a call to have those ranks there. He was at the time still the head of security, but was not informed under whose request the Special Branch had shown up. He indicated that the Special Branch was at the time headed by Deputy Commissioner Nigel Hoppie.

“It is my humble opinion that they were in support of her (Myers), and Mr. Hoppie would have known that they were there,” Thomas said.

NO NEED FOR SPECIAL BRANCH
Thomas noted that in his capacity at the time, there was no need for Special Branch officers at that location, based on the current situation, as he’d already had ranks stationed there.

Subsequent to the arrival of those Special Branch ranks, Thomas said he received a call from Deputy Commissioner Graham. During this phone call, he highlighted that they had a disagreement, whereby Graham was at the time supporting the notion that GECOM Commissioner Gunraj and a number of other persons should not be in the building.
He then related the concerns that Gunraj raised about the security of SoPs and election-related material at the building.

Subsequent to this conversation, he noted that he received a phone call from the then Police Commissioner Leslie James.
“He was supporting the case; Ms. Graham case that people need to be removed from the building,” the former commander said, while adding that he was told to have the people vacate the building.

He added that while they had several discussions, he did not comply with that statement.
As events unfolded, two ranks of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), Deputy Superintendent Clifton Davis and Assistant Superintendent Ali, appeared, and they indicated that they did not come to him as the most senior officer in the building.

When asked who would be the person responsible for directing and calling out the TSU, he indicated that it would be the police commissioner.
“I don’t have that authority,” he told the Commission. These were just some of the instructions he said were given that did not come from him during the entire debacle at the Ashmin’s building.
Thomas reaffirmed that there was no need for TSU ranks there.

While these officers were given instructions by others to have everyone leave the building, he was still against this.
Subsequently, with all the events that transpired, he noted that he attempted to call Commissioner James to inform him that he wanted to leave.

“I was calling the commissioner to tell the commissioner that based on the actions there, that I’m no longer in charge, and I was seeking permission to leave,” he said.

The following day, March 6, 2020, Thomas revealed, he returned to the location and saw barricades surrounding the area, and indicated that again he did not give those instructions.
He later received a call from Deputy Commissioner Graham informing him that he was no longer in command of the division. She reportedly told him that the Commissioner was not pleased with his performance and as such he will be reassigned.

That reassignment, he remarked was not one for his rank and noted that he was provided no accommodations to work.

However, it wasn’t until August 2020 that Thomas was promoted and became head of the Presidential Guard when the administration changed.
The Commission of Inquiry continues on Monday at 09:00hrs when more witnesses will take the stand.