– trial to continue on Wednesday
THE 2020 Electoral fraud trial resumed on Monday at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty.
When the matter was called on Monday, key witness, Bebi Anieshaw Mohamed, who during 2020 was a tabulation officer for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) took the stand for further cross-examination.
Mohamed was cross-examined by attorneys for the defendants, Dexter Todd, Darren Wade and Eusi Anderson. Subsequently, she was re-examined and officially concluded her testimony before the court.
The trial is expected to continue on Wednesday, with other witnesses expected to take the stand.
At the beginning of this month, it was noted by the prosecution that more than 10 witnesses were still to be called to present evidence.
At that time, Special Prosecutor, attorney-at-law Latchmie Rahamat, while speaking with members of the media, explained that while the State remains prepared to proceed efficiently, the fluid nature of trial proceedings makes it difficult to determine when the matter will conclude.
Those on trial include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers; former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; former Health Minister Volda Lawrence; and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph.
Also facing charges are former GECOM staffers Michelle Miller, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The defendants collectively face 19 charges, including conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office. Each has entered a plea of not guilty and was released on significant cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, has argued that the defendants each played a “critical role” in attempts to inflate votes in favour of the then-incumbent – A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition while reducing votes for the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
Initial results announced by Lowenfield had declared an APNU+AFC victory, with 171,825 votes against the PPP/C’s 166,343. However, after five months of litigation and a Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-supervised recount, the PPP/C was declared the winner with 233,336 votes to APNU+AFC’s 217,920, paving the way for Dr Irfaan Ali’s swearing-in as president on August 2, 2020.
The fallout from the election controversy led to the termination of Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo’s contracts at GECOM in August 2021.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections have found that there were collusion and collaboration between senior GECOM officials to divert votes to the APNU +AFC instead of safeguarding and preserving the integrity of the electoral system.
