PRINCIPAL Magistrate Faith McGusty issued an arrest warrant for Woman Police Inspector Roshelle Peters on Tuesday after the prosecution reported that she had failed to appear at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for the ongoing electoral fraud trial.
Prosecutor Madana Rampersaud informed the court that Peters was absent, leading McGusty to remind him that the inspector had already been ordered to attend the October 27 hearing.
“She was bound over by me, Mr. Prosecutor,” the magistrate said, stressing that Peters had
been formally instructed to appear on the scheduled date.
Reinforcing her point, McGusty told Rampersaud: “It is the court that told her that she had to come on the 27th.”
Rampersaud said he had anticipated the possibility of delays and was seeking to avoid unnecessary disruption to the proceedings.
“This is what I was trying to avoid, madam. I was trying to avoid wasting the court’s time,” he said.
Peters, who holds the rank of Woman Police Inspector, is a prosecution witness in the case.
Peters testified in September about former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield’s passport application and the operation of the passport system.
Lowenfield is one of the nine accused in the trial.
Peters told the court that the application was accepted by then Constable Primo. She explained that she entered her fingerprint into the system to enable then-Constable Crandon, a new staff member, to operate it.
According to Peters, the system required a fingerprint for activation but did not have a password feature. She added that technical personnel from Canadian Bank Note Company had granted her the necessary access privileges.
The court also addressed the cross-examination of witnesses, with several defence attorneys declining to question them, while others were yet to complete the process.
Arrangements for witnesses expected to testify on Wednesday were also discussed, as the trial continues at 09:30hrs.
With the proceedings progressing, the prosecution is expected to call its remaining witnesses, including GECOM Chairperson Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, whose testimony is anticipated to be a significant part of the case as it approaches its final stages.
The election fraud trial centres on allegations surrounding the tabulation and declaration of results from the 2020 polls, a process that led to months of political uncertainty and legal battles, before a final declaration was made five months after election day.
The nine defendants in this trial collectively face 19 charges, including conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office. All have pleaded not guilty and were released on cash bail.
The accused, including former senior GECOM officials and other individuals, have pleaded not guilty.
Those on trial include former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Government Minister Volda Lawrence and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member, Carol Smith-Joseph.
Also, before the court are former GECOM employees Michelle Miller, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan and Denise Babb-Cummings.
It is the prosecution’s case that each defendant had a “critical role” to play in the wilful endeavour to inflate votes for the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) and deflate votes for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
In the weeks that followed the March 2, 2020, vote, Guyana’s judiciary was inundated with multiple applications and appeals filed by various political actors over the electoral process.
The saga lasted five months before a national recount, led by GECOM and a delegation from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), confirmed the PPP/C’s victory and ultimately led to the swearing-in of President Dr Irfaan Ali on August 2, 2020.
The recount confirmed that the PPP/C won the elections with 233,336 votes against the APNU+AFC coalition’s 217,920.
The initial elections results, announced by former CEO Lowenfield, claimed an APNU+AFC victory.
The APNU+AFC coalition received 171,825 votes, while the PPP/C received 166,343 votes, according to Lowenfield’s election report.
Following the PPP/C’s return to office in August 2020, criminal charges were filed against the defendants.
GECOM made the decision to terminate the contracts of Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo in August 2021, after the allegations of fraud came to light.
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the elections later concluded that there had been collusion and collaboration among senior GECOM officials to divert votes to APNU+AFC rather than safeguard the integrity of the electoral process.
