THE election fraud trial of former Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo and others, continued on Tuesday before Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, with the prosecution presenting a video recording of his 2020 police interview and testimony from key witnesses.
Mingo, 74, a father of four and former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employee, is, among other things, accused of falsifying declarations during the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
On Tuesday, the court heard from Sergeant Romario Campbell, who in 2020 was a Constable attached to the Guyana Police Force, employed as a crime scene examiner, fingerprint analyst, and police photographer/videographer.
Campbell told the court he was instructed to record Mingo’s interview at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters.
The interview, conducted by Senior Superintendent of Police Mitchell Caesar—head of the Major Crimes Investigation Unit—and Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Komal Pitamber, lasted more than two hours.
Campbell explained that after capturing the session on video, he returned to the crime lab where he burned the footage onto a compact disk, marked it for identification, and made several copies.
He then prepared a written statement, which was handed over to ASP Pitamber, the investigating officer.
On Tuesday, Campbell identified his markings before the discs were tendered and played in court.
A portion of the recording was played in court.25
In the video, Mingo was informed of the allegations against him and was read his rights by Pitamber: “You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so. But whatever you say may be put into writing and given in evidence [in a court of law].”
Mingo was also asked if he understood why he was there and if he was comfortable and had eaten, to which he replied in the affirmative.
ASP Pitamber confronted Mingo with the allegations during the recorded interview at the CID Headquarters in August 2020.
During the interview, Pitamber informed Mingo that between March 5 and March 13, 2020, at the Ashmins Building on High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, and at the Guyana Elections Commission Headquarters in Kingston, he was alleged to have conspired with others to fraudulently inflate votes cast for the then incumbent A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition. He added that this was allegedly done while reducing those of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), the opposition party.
The police officer alleged that, as Returning Officer for Region Four, Mingo falsified his declaration and “inflated votes cast for APNU+AFC by 19,508 and decreased votes cast for PPP/C by over 3,558.”
The officer further alleged, “On March 13, 2020, you again inflated votes cast for APNU+AFC by 19,137 and decreased the PPP/C’s votes by 3,656, while the correct figures taken from the Statements of Poll revealed 116,950 votes for APNU+AFC and 80,887 votes for the PPP/C.”
Pitamber also put to Mingo that, by uttering forged documents—specifically the declarations for Region Four—and by falsifying votes, he had committed misconduct in public office.
When asked if he had anything to say in response to these allegations, Mingo replied simply: “No.” Asked again, he repeated, “No.”
Despite the absence of his lawyer, Darren Wade—who had been informed of the interview but was unable to attend—the detectives proceeded.
During the course of the questioning, Mingo answered personal questions about his work and family but declined to speak about his educational background, stating that he was being asked “too much” in the absence of his attorney.
On the substantive allegations of fraud, however, he remained silent.
Probed further by the detective on whether he had cause to sign any documents as the Returning Officer, Mingo replied, “Many documents.” He, however, declined to provide a list of those documents, stating that he was refusing to give such information.
“I can foresee it is going to get technical for me,” he added, to which Pitamber responded, “Understood.”
At this point, Officer Caesar interjected to ask Mingo to clarify what he meant by his statement. Caesar then proceeded to inform Mingo that the police were conducting an investigation, which he described as a fact-finding mission.
“We are trying to find out whether these things you are accused of, you actually did or not,” Caesar stated.
“And you told me earlier that if I know I’m going to say something that could incriminate me, I can withhold it—that is my understanding,” Mingo replied.
“That is your right,” Caesar affirmed firmly. During the course of the lengthy interview, Mingo was asked a series of questions regarding his conduct during the 2020 polls.
The trial will continue this morning with further testimony.
Those facing charges include Carol Smith-Joseph of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Health Minister under the APNU+AFC government Volda Lawrence, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, and Clairmont Mingo.
Also charged are former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
Collectively, they face 19 charges and are represented by a robust defence team. The defence team includes lawyers Nigel Hughes, Dexter Todd, Darren Wade, Ronald Daniels, and Eusi Anderson.
Due to the charges arising from the same set of circumstances, the matters have been consolidated. Each defendant has pleaded not guilty to the charges and secured their release by posting significant cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, argued that each defendant played a “critical role” in the deliberate effort to inflate votes for the APNU+AFC and reduce votes for the PPP/C.
In the weeks that followed the contentious 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.