—as court sets new hearing schedule
VOIR DIRE proceedings were conducted on Friday in the ongoing election fraud trial, focusing on evidentiary issues related to accused persons Sheffern February and Denise Babb-Cummings, who are among several defendants before the court.
During the hearing, a number of police ranks were cross examined by defence attorney Eusi Anderson as part of the voir-dire process. The police witnesses included Nigel Stephens, Komal Pitamber, Rodwell Sarrabo, Mitchell Caesar, and Devon Benjamin.
The court also granted approval for accused Enrique Livan to appear virtually after it was disclosed that he is suffering from pneumonia in both lungs and that the courtroom’s air-conditioning environment is not suitable for his condition.
Meanwhile, former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner and former Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, now serving as a Senior Adviser within the Ministry of Home Affairs, was unavailable on Friday to continue his testimony after having given evidence on Thursday.
At the close of proceedings, Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty outlined a revised timetable for the continuation of the matter at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The trial is scheduled to resume on March 27 for continued voir-dire proceedings and will continue on March 31.
Additional hearing dates were also fixed for April 20 and 24, followed by sittings from April 27 to 30. The court further scheduled hearings for May 18, 20, 21 and 22, and for June 15 to 26, with final dates set from June 22 to 26 as the case continues.
Those charged 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.
The list also includes former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) staffers Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
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.
Since the allegations arise from the same set of events, the cases have been consolidated for trial. In addition to Anderson, other defence lawyers involved in the case include Nigel Hughes, Darren Wade, Ronald Daniels, Dexter Todd, and Tifaine Rutherford.
The prosecution, headed by Darshan Ramdhanie, KC, with attorneys Latchmie Rahamat and Madana Rampersaud, alleges that each of the accused played a significant role in attempts to inflate votes for the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition while suppressing support 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, had 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.
Criminal charges were filed against the defendants following the PPP/C’s return to office in August, 2020.
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 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.
Chairman Stanley John and commissioners — former Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh and Senior Counsel Godfrey Smith made these findings based on evidence from the many witnesses who testified along with the reports of the international observers.
“…our inquiry reveals that there were, in fact, shockingly brazen attempts by Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo to derail and corrupt the statutorily prescribed procedure for the counting, ascertaining and tabulation of votes of the March 2nd election, as well as the true declaration of the results of that election, and that they did so – to put it in unvarnished language of the ordinary man – for the purpose of stealing the election,” they said in their report.
