On being effigies or mascots

May 10, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – The Commission of Inquiry into the 2020 elections presented recently its Report to President Ali.
The Report dealt a devastating blow to the career of Three senior GECOM officials who became effigies or mascots at the beginning and at the end of the botched attempts by a cabal to fiddle with the election results. The objective was to hold on to power at all costs. While the Report exposed the cabal’s efforts to crank-up the rigging engine to thwart the will of the electorate, at the same time, it revealed ‘How Professions Die.’

Before proceeding further, the sojourn and role of the THREE need to be contextualized in the light of disclosures about them in the Report. It is to be recalled that the NUMBER TWO official was the preferred candidate of the APNU+AFC commissioners at GECOM at a time when the search was on for a suitably qualified candidate to fill the post of Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO).
Contrary to long established employment practices at GECOM, the preferred candidate was recruited and promoted to the position of DCEO with the blessings of the NUMBER ONE official. During those perilous days following the elections, the nation saw the NUMBER THREE official being wheeled out on a stretcher from the Ashmins building with news reports claiming he had ‘suffered a heart attack.’

In the aftermath of the failed attempt to steal the results of the election and in the wake of a change in government, major changes took place at the top level of GECOM. NUMBERS ONE, TWO and THREE have since been removed from their respective posts within the organization and replaced by three others. Thanks to the widely disseminated Report or better said ‘expose’, the despicable role of the three officials was laid bare before the Nation. But more is yet to come in view of the charges brought against the three in the much anticipated the pending Court hearings.
Here are six specific references in the Report highlighting the handiwork of two of the three officials:

‘The DCEO knew or ought to have known that at the time of the RO’s declaration, the statutorily prescribed procedure and requirements of ascertainment and tabulation for electoral district No. 4 had not been completed and that therefore the RO’s declaration was a clear violation of the law. But the DCEO merely looked on. She said nothing and did nothing.’
And as though that indictment was not harsh enough the Report continued;

‘In the absence of RO Mingo, DCEO Myers arrogated unto herself the authority to continue the ascertainment and tabulation exercise.’

‘Even though it was DCEO Myers who set the tabulation process in motion in the absence of the RO, she appeared to have receded into the background with respect to the source material they were to use in the ascertainment and tabulation exercise.’

‘The DCEO, in most of her interactions with party agents, appeared unhelpful and carried a hostile and abrasive bearing, evident in the video footage placed in evidence before us. This was evident when she asked party agents and observers to leave the tabulation room saying, “Take your rubbish with you and leave” ‘On the occasion of a report of a bomb being placed in Ashmin’s building, she told party agents, observers and diplomats, “Y’all get out the room. There’s a bomb in the building.” She never left the building.’

According to the distinguished Jurists who presiding over the COI; “We saw video evidence of a minister of the then APNU/AFC government visiting the Ashmin’s Building to have a meeting with diplomats and observers. The minister was chaperoned into the room where the meeting was to be held by the DCEO. At one point, the DCEO received a call on her phone which was apparently intended for the APNU/AFC minister, and so she passed her phone to the minister. The difference in her demeanour with the minister sharply contrasted with her demeanour with party agents and observers who had a legitimate interest in being at the Ashmin’s Building.”

At his press conference held on April 27, 2023, PPP General Secretary Bharat Jagdeo likened the Report to a ‘thriller story.’
The public now awaits the next episode of this thriller story depicting ‘How Professions Die.’ This time, we are likely to witness moments that may astonish viewers before judgements handed down.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee

DCEO, election results, GECOM officials, RO Mingo

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On being effigies or mascots

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