Efforts afoot to thwart court-ordered special general meeting at Credit Union

Aug 11, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

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– Interim executive committee

Kaieteur News – The Interim Executive Committee of Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) believes that efforts are afoot by a league within the GPSCCU to thwart the holding of a special general meeting ordered by the Court.

The move comes amidst contempt of court proceedings brought against members of the GPSCUU’s management committee.

Last month, High Court Justice Navindra Singh stripped three officers of GPSCCU of their rights, duties and responsibilities within the Credit Union after they failed to attend a contempt of court hearing.

Chairman of GPSCCU Karen Vanslyutman-Corbin, Secretary Gillian Pollard and Board Member, Ruth Howard are facing contempt of court for failing to comply with an comply order to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM) in keeping with a request by members of the GPSCUU.

As a result of their failure to attend the court hearing, the Judge had ordered that former Chairman of the Credit Union, Trevor Benn, Vice Chairman Patrick Mentore and Treasurer, Rajdai Jaggernauth perform their functions.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Patrick Mentore, who is now acting as the interim Chairman of the Executive Committee explained the court-appointed executive has already taken steps to act in accordance with the court orders.

“There are complaints that persons have been issuing threats against employees and the executive. Members fear that there may be attempts in official circles to disrupt the process of organizing and planning for the SGM,” Mentore said.

Asked to elaborate on the specific threats, Mentore said, “People have been saying that if we go ahead and hold the Special General Meeting as ordered by the court that will involve spending monies not approved by the committee and therefore, they will be making criminal complaints to the police…Obviously, people would want no part in that”

He explained further that there are signs that the Department of Cooperatives, and the Credit Union League, which had been silent throughout the entire matter, and which are headed by a member of the GPSCCU Committee of Management, are likely to play a role in support of the embattled Committee of Management.

Mentore noted that one legal practitioner opined that it would be an act of contempt for the department and any other agency to issue any directive outside of court proceedings.

On July 26, 2023, the contempt motion filed by the applicants Mehalai McCalmont  et al, members of GPSCCU called for hearing in the High Court before Justice Navindra Singh.

The motion was filed against the GPSCCU Committee of Management for not complying with the orders of court made on September 30, 2022, in Action No. 2022-HC-DEM-CIV-FDA-797.

The said Order was secured via petition in May 2022, and signed by over two hundred members of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union Ltd., pursuant to Regulation 16 of the Co-operative Societies Regulations, Cap. 88:01.

As a result, the judge had ruled that the petition for a Special General Meeting was lawful and valid but after there was no obvious move to comply with the Court order, the contempt motion was bought.

However, when the hearing began the obvious absence of the respondents indicated that no one was taking the court seriously since it was apparent also, that the court orders had not been complied with.

The court was told that respondents Karen Vansluytman-Corbin, Gillian Pollard, and Ruth Howard, who were the Chair, Secretary and committee member respectively, were out of the country on credit union business.

The court was not amused, and took a serious view of the respondents’ apparent lack of respect since all parties had been informed of the court date previously.

The court was persuaded to appoint an interim executive to give effect to the court orders of September 30, 2022, since the initial management committee had shown no inclination of doing so.

The general membership of the credit union is calling for the removal of the entire Committee of Management and the expulsion and debarring of nine of its members from ever holding office on the Committee in the future.

The interim executive had noted that in recent days, various members have expressed serious concerns about the actions of the committee including the level of expenditure and the purposes for which credit union funds are being utilized.

Among the major areas identified are the absurd spending of the Credit Union’s money, such as overseas travel, which in a one-year period, has utilized over $31 million spent on meals and other miscellaneous activities with no discernible benefits coming to the members.

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• Chairman of the Credit Union, Rajdai Jaggernauth, Treasurer, Trevor Benn, Vice Chairman Patrick Mentore

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