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‘No coercion, no influence, soldiers free to vote for party of their choice’ – GDF Chief of Staff
Scenes from Base Camp Ayanganna and Coast Guard Ship Hinds on August 22, 2025
Kaieteur News – Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan, was the first to cast his ballot when polls opened at 06:00 hours at Base Camp Ayanganna on Friday.
August 22 was designated the day for members of the disciplined forces to vote, 10 days ahead of the 2025 general and regional elections.
Following his vote, Brigadier Khan told reporters outside one of three polling stations at Camp Ayanganna, that there were approximately 24 polling stations across the country to facilitate voting by soldiers.
Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan
“My experience just now, was a very organised and smooth one and I want to thank all those who are responsible for ensuring that this was done successfully, at least when I was in there,” he said.
The GDF Chief added that he did not anticipate any issues. “All soldiers are expressing and exercising their democratic right to participate in this beautiful and important process. As you know, traditionally, the joint services would vote before the general public vote, and that is scheduled for the first of September.”
He stressed that soldiers will decide without coercion and vote for the political party of their choice. “Everyone is given the opportunity to emphasise that in your own individual assessment and how they vote, and I’m happy that we are going to be doing just that, like we’ve been doing over the years,” Khan said.
Pressed on whether the army made it clear to officers prior to voting that they are allowed to choose any party, or whether the GDF was pushing one party’s agenda, Brigadier Khan responded, “There’s no particular agenda. Every day, every officer around gets up, put on their boots and clothes and ready to serve the people… Every soldier has a right to exercise their vote as they see fit. There’s no coercion. There is no influence, and all the soldiers are here are doing just that, and across the force and across the country.”
On the logistics of voting in outlying and border regions, the chief of staff said there are systems in place. He explained that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) completed the necessary work, including transportation and the pre-positioning of material and equipment and the ballots were escorted by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
Moreover, Khan also noted that some officers currently overseas on training courses will not be able to vote on August 22. He explained that while some will return home to vote on September 1, others may have the possibility of casting their ballots from overseas.
Further, at a briefing held at Base Camp Ayanganna, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer, Yolanda Ward, explained that the law allows members of the disciplined forces to vote before elections day as they will be deployed across the country to provide security on September 1.
“So today, 10,481 were one ranks across the respective discipline forces will be voting across the country in all ten districts,” Ward said. She detailed those 6,909 ranks from the GPF, 3,106 from the GDF, and 466 from the Guyana Prison Service are expected to vote.
She added that members of the disciplined forces are permitted to vote in the district where they are assigned to work, rather than the district where they are registered.
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