AS part of the twisted plan to steal the 2020 General and Regional Elections, corrupt staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) used the police to thwart any challenges to the plan.

This became clear to Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., from the very first time he tried serving Clairmont Mingo, the District Four Returning Officer, with a letter requesting a recount of votes.

Ramson testified to this effect when he appeared, on Wednesday, before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events surrounding the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

For those elections, Ramson had been appointed a People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) counting agent for District Four.  Therefore, when Mingo went ahead, on March 5, and declared APNU+AFC as the winner for District Four after a truncated and inefficient verification and tabulation process, the onus was upon Ramson to request a recount on behalf of his party.

Shortly after Mingo made his announcement, Ramson had a letter prepared requesting a recount. Ramson testified that he was relentless in his efforts to serve the letter to Mingo, who was on the top floor of the Ashmin’s building. But in the first instance, when he tried to get to Mingo, Ramson was blocked by police ranks who manned the stairway.

Ramson recalled that it was the late Bibi Shadick, a GECOM Commissioner at the time, who secured his passage beyond the police barricade on the stairway. Ramson said that by the time he eventually got to the top floor of the Ashmin building, Mingo had disappeared from his sight.

The Minister recounted that there were several rooms with steel doors that were shut tight with the outer handles missing, making it difficult to enter. Ramson said that he knocked for 10 minutes on each of the doors; but his banging fell on deaf ears.

The Member of Parliament told Commissioners that he remained on the top floor for about an hour, give or take, until he eventually left that area but remained in the building.

Ramson said that while he was on the ground floor, he spotted Mingo who had emerged from one of the rooms on the top floor. At this point, Mingo was under heavy police protection. In the words of Ramson, “he was circled by police.”

Those ranks escorted Mingo through a back door.

But before that, Ramson made yet another attempt to get to Mingo.

Ramson testified that he managed to get as near as somewhere around 30 to 40ft. But alas, Mingo slipped away as Ramson needed to get past a human barricade of police ranks who stood a short distance away from the several other police ranks who moved in tandem with Mingo.

Ultimately, Mingo got away.

Ramson testified he took a photo of the letter which he then sent, via Whatsapp, to Mingo, the then Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and to GECOM Chairman, Claudette Singh.

Ramson told the CoI that none of the officials ever acknowledged receipt of the message, which, to this day, remains on his cellular phone.

Ramson knew that he had a particular time frame within which he needed to make his request for a recount in order for it to be valid.

The law says, until 12:00hrs the next day. Ramson said that he had roughly 20 hours from the time Mingo made his announcement to the cut-off point.  He made those 20 hours count.

On March 6, Ramson continued his efforts to serve the letter. He said that, on that day, no one had access to the Ashmin Building. The area was cordoned off, and the steel shutters on the Ashmin building were activated. Essentially, the office of the District Four RO was shut down.

While attempting to move beyond the barricade, Ramson was threatened by an angry “mob”.

Majority of the people in that mob were clad in green jerseys that carried APNU+AFC symbols and name.

Ramson presented the CoI with a video that captured a fraction of the ordeal. Commissioners noted that threats were made on Ramson’s life. That, and other videos, were taken into evidence.

Ramson told the Commission that about seven minutes before the 12:00hrs cut-off point, he was allowed into the Ashmin building. He gave the letter to Mingo’s clerk who identified herself as Ms. Miller. Ramson said that he was notified that Miller was authorised to accept the letter on Mingo’s behalf.

The commission heard that Mingo eventually responded to that letter saying that he did not recognise Ramson as a counting agent.

This is despite the fact that PPP/C’s election agent, Zulfikar Mustapha, followed all the necessary and usual procedures for appointing Ramson a counting agent.

Further, the Commission heard that Ramson and Mingo interacted before in Ramson’s capacity as a counting agent and Mingo’s capacity as an RO.

Ramson recalled that, on March 13, Mingo made a second declaration that was not in keeping with the figures reflected on the Statements of Poll in the possession of the PPP/C. Again, Mingo announced APNU+AFC as the winner of District Four.

Again, Ramson tried to serve another “Request for General Final count.”

As if he was stuck in a loop, Ramson said that similar shenanigans prevailed. Mingo avoided him like the metaphoric plague.

Ramson said that he was eventually able to serve his letter to a Deputy Returning Officer identified as Ms. Cummings.  This was on March 14, again, just a few minutes before the legal timeframe had expired.

Ramson told commissioners that he never laid eyes on Mingo until some months after when Mingo was arrested.