GCB, Cricket Ombudsman declared illegal by High Court

Apr 05, 2019 News

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The May 2018 election of Attorney-at-Law Stephen Lewis as Ombudsman of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) was yesterday declared illegal by High Court Judge Fidel Corbin who found that it was contrary to sections 10 and 17 of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act (GCAA) No. 14 of 2014.
Similarly, Justice Corbin also declared that the election of the nine-member executive of the GCB at a purported annual general meeting on January 28, 2018 was unlawful, null, void and of no effect, since it was done in contravention of the provisions of Section seven, 17 and Schedule One of the GCAA.
In May 2018, Attorney-at-Law Arudranauth Gossai on behalf of Rabindranauth Saywack, Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB), filed action against the election of Lewis who was later appointed to the post by the Minister of Sport George Norton.
Saywack also challenged the appointment of the executive of the GCB, namely Fizaul Bacchus, Vice President; Anand Sanasie, Secretary; Anand Kalladeen, Treasurer; Virendra Chintamani, Assistant Secretary; Rajendra Singh, Marketing Manager; Andy Ramnarine, Public Relations Officer; Colin Europe, Chairman Competition Committee; Rayon Griffith, Chairman of Senior Selection Panel and Nazimul Drepaul, Chairman of Junior Selection Panel.
In giving her ruling, Justice Corbin noted that the above named persons cannot hold themselves to be office bearers or do anything else as it relates to the operation of the GCB since their last elections, too, were unlawful.
In his grounds for the application, Gossai stated that on 4th August, 2014, the GCAA Act of No. 14 of 2014 came into effect and at that time there was no lawfully elected executive committee of the GCB.
According to him, Lewis resigned office without first performing the functions under Section 17, that is, the holding of first elections of the GCB. And that since the commencement of the GCAA, there has been no elections of the GCB and no validly elected executive members.
He said, “Further, the GCB is made up of three County Boards, only two of which currently have validly elected office bearers, namely Essequibo and Berbice. Each of the three (3) County Boards is permitted nine representatives at the GCB.”
Gossai continued, “On 3rd May, 2018, a purported extraordinary meeting was held by persons holding themselves out as the Executive Committee of the GCB and at the said meeting the respondent was elected as Cricket Ombudsman and/or Ombudsman. The said election was purportedly held pursuant to Section 10 of the GCAA.”

Section 10 of the GCAA states that the Ombudsman shall be elected by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting at an extraordinary meeting of GCB; a quorum for such a meeting is 14 members.
According to Gossai, “at the said meeting of 3rd May, 2018 it was impossible to have a valid and legal quorum as there were no representatives of the Berbice Cricket Board and the Essequibo Cricket Board is limited to nine representatives. Therefore there was no quorum for the said extraordinary meeting.”
Contending that there was bias on the part of Lewis, Gossai submitted that Lewis is closely associated with the Everest Cricket Club having served as its President for a number of years. Everest Cricket Club is part of the Georgetown Cricket Association which is a member of the Demerara Cricket Board.
“(Lewis) in his role as Ombudsman would be required to verify the Register of Clubs for the Georgetown Cricket Association. Further (Lewis) is a Partner in the Law Firm which currently acts on behalf of the Presidents of the West Demerara Cricket Association and the East Bank Cricket Association, both of whom are currently before the Court in an action relating to the holding of elections for the Demerara Cricket Board,” Gossai added.
In relation to the purported executive members, Gossai argued, “Section 7 (a) of the GCA Act provides that the election to the executive committee of the GCB, shall in respect of the first elections, be held in accordance with section 17 on the date appointed in writing by the Minister acting in consultation with the West Indies Cricket Board”.
According to him, despite the provisions of sections 7 and 17 and in breach, Lewis along with other persons convened an Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) of the GCB on 29th October, 2017 and at the said meeting purported to table a motion for the aforementioned nine named persons to be elected as members of the executive committee of the GCB.
He argued, “The purported election of the Executive Committee at the OGM is void and of no effect as said election was contrary to the provisions of Article 10 of the Constitution of the GCB. Article 10 provides that the election of the executive committee shall be held at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the GCB.
The nominations made at the said OGM were in breach of Article 10 (d) of the GCB Constitution as the nominations were not submitted to a Select Committee for ratification. Additionally, no Returning Officer was nominated and approved at the OGM as required by Article 10 (e) of the GCB Constitution.”
The lawyer noted that the OGM was a farce orchestrated by them who continue to unlawfully hold themselves out as the Executive Committee of the GCB when in fact no lawful elections have been held since the commencement of the GCA Act.
At the AGM of the GCB, it was discovered that what in fact transpired at the OGM was not nominations of members of the Executive Committee, but rather, a motion was presented requesting that the “current” Executive Committee continue in office for another term. At the AGM a second vote was taken on the said “motion”. The motion was submitted by the ECB and seconded by DCB and BCB.

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