TODAY, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC, is expected to provide a report detailing the outcome of his discussions with key state judicial authorities regarding the assignment of a special court to hear the electoral fraud case.

This report which will be presented to Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court will likely outline whether progress has been made in addressing the issue of assigning a dedicated magistrate to expedite the hearing of the case, which has been stagnant for three years due to its complexity and the volume of evidence involved.

The electoral fraud case involves former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Chairperson, Volda Lawrence; PNC/R activist Carol Smith-Joseph and four others.

The trio along with Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings and Michelle Miller, are before the court for allegedly defrauding the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes for the 2020 elections.

During a case management conference (CMC) before Magistrate Daly on October 4, Ramdhani requested that all the matters be consolidated into one, as the underlying evidence stems from the same source.

In response, the defendants’ attorney, Nigel Hughes, had expressed concerns about the extensive amount of evidence and the number of defendants involved, suggesting that the case might take several years to progress.

Ramdhani acknowledged the complexity and potential duration of presenting the evidence and proposed a solution: dedicating a magistrate exclusively to the case to expedite the proceedings.

Magistrate Daly noted her existing caseload and expressed doubts about accommodating this request, as it might overburden the court further.

“The court should not be put in such a position,” Ramdhani said in agreement.

He offered to write to the Chancellor of Judiciary (ag) Yonette Cummings and the Chief Magistrate to discuss potential solutions and the appointment of a dedicated magistrate.

Hughes argued that the prosecution was acting unconscionably by filing multiple matters, knowing the challenges it could create.

He suggested that the prosecution drop some to expedite the proceedings.
Ramdhani strongly objected to this proposal and reminded the court that the defendants’ lawyers had previously made such an application before the former Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan but it was rejected.

In dismissing the application, the Chief Magistrate had ordered that the case be heard expeditiously given its national importance.

Despite the back-and-forth, both sides acknowledged that the case’s complexity meant it could take years to complete because of the volume of evidence.

Ramdhani reiterated the need for a special court to address the matter effectively, as he had previously written to the magistrates sitting at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court about the same challenges in March 2021, with no resolution.

To resolve the issue conclusively, Ramdhani had announced his intention to write to the Chancellor and Chief Magistrate, urging them to identify a special court for the case.

Previously, Ramdhani had singled out the prosecution’s readiness to commence trial once the court was ready to proceed. It was disclosed that the prosecution has over 90 witnesses to call to the stand to testify.

“The prosecution has a ton of evidence to lead. We have the certified copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs), we have the videotapes, we have the witnesses on ready and we know the courts have been trying their best to deal with these matters as judicially as possible,” he said.

Ramdhani along with Attorneys-at-law Glen Hanoman, Mark Conway, Ganesh Hira, Arudranauth Gossai, and George Thomas are all on record for the State. Attorneys-at-law Hughes, Eusi Anderson, Ronald Daniels and Konyo Sandiford are representing the defendants.

PARTICULARS OF CHARGES

It is alleged that Lawrence, Smith-Joseph, February, Livan, Bobb-Cummings and Miller between March 2 and August 2, 2020, at Georgetown, conspired with former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and Mingo to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes cast in the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.

Additionally, Miller was slapped with a separate charge which alleged that between March 3-5, 2020, at the GECOM Command Centre at Ashmin’s building on High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, she conspired with persons to defraud the people of Guyana by not using the figures from the Statements of Poll for the purpose of ascertaining the figures to make the declaration of the results for the said District Four, thereby resulting in a false declaration being made for the said district.

The defendants’ attorneys had previously argued for the case to be heard in the High Court, given the nature of the proceedings which they claimed might infringe on their client’s rights to a fair trial within a reasonable time.

Nevertheless, the Chief Magistrate ruled that despite the voluminous evidence and the complexity of the case, the court has been proceeding with the hearing of the case “expeditiously.”

The case was thereafter transferred to Magistrate Daly.

In August 2021, Mingo, along with Lowenfield and his then-deputy, Roxanne Myers, had their employment terminated by the commission.

It is alleged that the trio inflated or facilitated the inflation of results for Region Four, the country’s largest voting district, to give the APNU+AFC coalition a majority win at the polls when, in fact, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had won by 15,000 votes.

Those who rejected the results filed several legal challenges which ended up before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s highest appeal court.

A lengthy recount of the votes eventually declared victory in favour of the PPP/C, and Dr. Irfaan Ali was sworn in as the President of Guyana on August 2, 2020.