–officers determined bomb scare at GECOM Command Centre was a hoax

Former Police Division 4 ‘A’ Commander, Edgar Thomas, on Wednesday, took the stand in the ongoing election fraud trial, recounting an incident involving a flash drive at the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) command centre during the 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Thomas was the second witness on Wednesday’s proceedings in the long-awaited 2020 election fraud trial currently underway before Acting Chief Magistrate, Faith Mc Gusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Charged are People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph; former Health Minister under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO at GECOM Roxanne Myers; former Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.

Thomas noted that prior to the election, officers were informed of their main responsibility in relation to providing security for GECOM’s building and command centre at High and Hadfield Streets.

Thomas recounted that on March 5, 2020, while at his Brickdam office, he received a report from the operations room that raised serious alarms.

According to the report, someone involved in the tabulation process had been seen removing a flash drive, suspected to contain tabulation data, and entering a separate room within the Ashmins Building, where the GECOM Command Centre was located.

As a result of this, he noted that he, along with Divisional Detective Officer, Julius Wright and another inspector and a team from the Criminal Investigation Department, proceeded to the command centre.

Upon arrival, he indicated that several observers, both local and overseas, along with party representatives, echoed concerns about the flash drive from the tabulation room being removed.

Along with the group of observers and party agents, Thomas said he was taken to a room on the lower floor of the building. I

Inside, he encountered a man who identified himself as Enrique Livan.
To this end, he recalled that Livan admitted to removing the flash drive but claimed he was not tampering with any data as he noted he was just resting.

The allegation was formally put to Livan that he had removed the flash drive and was seen tampering with the tabulation data.

During the encounter, Thomas recalled hearing a voice he recognised as PPP representative Dr. Frank Anthony, who was “vociferous” in accusing Livan of tampering with the results.

Thomas said that the police team took custody of the flash drive while awaiting guidance from Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who was not at the centre at the time.

Upon contact, Lowenfield reportedly responded, “problem again,” and was subsequently brought to the building by police vehicle.

What followed, according to Thomas, was a tense but collective decision-making process. Party representatives and both local and international observers agreed that the police should take possession of the laptop and that the contents of the flash drive should be displayed on a big screen at the command centre for transparency.

Thomas said the data was displayed, but people pointed out that there were discrepancies.

He noted that he heard Dr Anthony say, “How this reach here?” and there was a disagreement over what was shown on screen versus what was expected.

According to his account, two folders appeared during the projection of the flash drive’s contents. A hard copy of the data was also produced, and Dr. Anthony reportedly highlighted inconsistencies between the printout and the displayed information.

Despite the controversy, Thomas said the matter appeared to have been temporarily resolved, as political party representatives and observers agreed on a common starting point to resume tabulation.

Later that day, Thomas noted he received a call concerning a bomb being planted at the building, and upon arriving there, persons were told the vacate the premises.

Thomas said that Police standard operating procedures were followed, and upon a sweep of the building, it was discovered that the call in relation to the bomb threat was determined as a hoax.