Chancellor to decide whether special court necessary for elections fraud cases

Oct 27, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – The magistrate court is awaiting the guidance of Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Yonette Cummings in relation to the allocation of a specialised court for the 2020 electoral fraud cases.

Following an investigation into the March 2020 General and Regional Elections and the events that followed, several former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) officials and others were criminally charged for allegedly attempting to rig the elections. Over 20 electoral fraud-related charges were brought against former GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers, Clairmont Mingo, Opposition members, Volda Lawrence, and Smith-Joseph. Also, GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings and Michelle Miller, are also before the court facing electoral fraud charges.

Scheduled for December 12, Special Prosecutor, Darshan Ramdhani, QC, is expected to provide an update to Senior Magistrate, Leron Daly, who is presiding over the cases at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, following the Chancellor’s guidance.

Special Prosecutor, Darshan Ramdhani, QC

In a previous hearing, Ramdhani had made a proposal for consolidating all the charges into one unified case, citing the common origin of evidence. However, Senior Magistrate Daly, already juggling a significant caseload, expressed reservations about the potential burden this would place on the court. To address this concern, the prosecutor offered to correspond with the Chancellor, opening a dialogue to explore solutions and the appointment of a dedicated magistrate to oversee the cases.

Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag), Yonette Cummings

On Wednesday’s hearing, Ramdhani was expected to present the court with the Chancellor’s guidance. However, he relayed to the court that the Chancellor’s communication had been dispatched, and they are awaiting a response. Importantly, he noted that the state is fully prepared to proceed in whichever direction the case takes.

For her part, Senior Magistrate Daly emphasised the necessity of organising the extensive evidence properly to ensure a just and efficient trial process. Ramdhani, demonstrating his commitment to facilitating this, assured the court of his willingness to assist. In the midst of these legal maneuvers, the defendants’ attorney, Nigel Hughes, raised concerns and contested the Chancellor’s jurisdiction to intervene at this stage. Amidst accusations that the state was stalling the case, Ramdhani emphasised the prosecution’s readiness to commence their case, underlining the urgency of resolving this matter.

The state’s legal teams is led by Ramdhani and comprises of attorneys-at-law Glen Hanoman, Arudranauth Gossai, Ganesh Hira, Mark Conway and George Thomas; while Attorneys-at-law Hughes, Ronald Daniels, Eusi Anderson, and Konyo Sandiford are representing the defendants.

According to reports, the state’s case alleged that Lawrence, Smith-Joseph, February, Livan, Bobb-Cummings and Miller between March 2 and August 2, 2020, at Georgetown, conspired with former Chief Elections Officer Lowenfield and Mingo to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes cast in the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections.

Miller was slapped with a separate charge which allege that between March 3 and 5, 2020, at the GECOM Command Centre at Ashmin’s building on High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, she conspired with others to defraud the people of Guyana by not using the figures from the Statements of Poll (SOP) for the purpose of ascertaining the figures to make the declaration of the results for the said District Four, thereby resulting in a false declaration being made for the said district. Notably, there are other individual charges against some of the defendants.