Several issues warrant investigations at GECOM

Dear Editor,
Well folks, at last we managed to have a meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) after last Tuesday’s statutory meeting was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Commissioners Alexander and Corbin were both unavailable, so the Chairman invoked Article 226 (5) of the Constitution, which provides for the meeting to be held on the Thursday following the adjourned Tuesday meeting, and for decisions to be made with or without a quorum.
This week, however, there was a quorum, with only Commissioner Alexander being absent, so the meeting was finally held after a hiatus of two weeks, during which there was D-day and E-day, a very packed two weeks for GECOM.
One would then expect that there would be full reports of the activities of the last two weeks, but with GECOM, expectations are not always, in fact, met.
What we were able to get after much to-ing and fro-ing, was, what the CEO calls the Preliminary results of the Local Government Elections, for all 80 Local Authority Areas. The CEO admitted that all 80 Returning Officers had made their declarations of the results of all the individual elections, and these were put on a broadsheet by the secretariat. My argument, was that the results having been declared by the Returning Officers had to be final, not preliminary, but that was still not admitted by the CEO. Nevertheless, each Commissioner was given a hard copy of the ‘preliminary’ results as compiled by GECOM’s secretariat. I was assured that the RO of the Municipality of Mabaruma had made his declaration of the results, contrary to what was reported in the press.
I also raised the issue that a person named Gavin Sparman of the APNU, had been declared the winner of a constituency in the La Grange-Nismes NDC, and that I had been given information that the said Gavin Sparman was closely related to Andrea Sparman, who was GECOM’s Supervisor for the said LAA. I asked the CEO if he was aware, and pointed out that if the information was true, the Supervisor should have been re-assigned to another district. The CEO did not admit or deny knowledge of such a relationship, but Commissioner Desmond Trotman was of the opinion that the supervisor had nothing to do with the actual running of the elections, and since the RO was the person in charge, there was no conflict to be avoided! I asked that his comments be put in full and kept for future reference, for an occasion when the shoe is on another foot!
Commissioner Trotman’s remarks were centered around an issue with tally sheets, which was resolved by the Operations Sub-committee, of which he is a member but seems to want a Commission of Inquiry into the work of the IT department and its Manager. I myself, like Commissioners Sase Gunraj, Charles Corbin and Robeson Benn, agreed that an investigation should be carried out on that as well as many other issues, by the Secretariat and Operations Sub- committee then brought to the full Commission with their recommendations, for discussions and decisions which would help in future conduct of future elections. Commissioner Trotman grudgingly acquiesced, although I got the distinct impression, which I voiced, that he had his heart set on a full-scale Commission of Inquiry, not unlike so many we have had recently, with recommendations for some punitive actions against certain staff members.
The chairman disallowed Commissioner Benn from making any remarks during that agenda item, and again disallowed him from raising his issues under ‘any other business’! The Chairman seems bent on shutting Commissioner Benn up completely!
Sincerely,
Bibi S. Shadick
Commissioner –GECOM