as probe into electoral fraud widens PAGE

GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday, August 28, 2020 3 GECOM IT technician arrested

– as probe into electoral fraud widens

Flashback: GECOM IT technician, Enrique Livan being questioned by police

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) IT Technician, Enrique Livan, who was fingered in allegations of fraud surrounding the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, was arrested on Thursday. He is the fifth suspect in custody.

The writ of habeas corpus was filed by attorneys-at-law Roysdale Forde and Darren Wade on behalf of Mingo’s wife, Waveney and was served on Police Commissioner Nigel Hoppie.

According to the application, there is no basis in law or fact for Mingo to be detained in custody, pursuant to inquiries or investigation into the commission of any act of fraud or conspiracy so to do by him.

Additionally, it is also contending that the police breached Mingo’s fundamental right to his liberty, pursuant to Article 144 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The case comes up for hearing on Friday, August 28, 2020, at the High Court.

On Thursday, the Guyana Police Force issued a statement from the office of the Commissioner of Police refuting allegations made in the media by Mingo’s attorney Darren Wade, who claimed that his client’s constitutional rights were breached by the Police.

The Force is claiming that shortly after Mingo arrived at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, following his arrest on August 25, Wade turned up at the location and demanded an immediate conference with his client.

The Police Rank on duty directed Wade to a designated area where access to his client would be granted after the rank had completed making the necessary entries in the Police records.

The force noted that Wade, instead of waiting in the area indicated and without any explanation left the CID Headquarters compound and met with several members of the media on the road way, where he spoke with them and during which he proceeded to make some false allegations.

However, Wade returned into the CID Headquarters where he met with his client Mr Mingo.

“GPF also wishes to state that it remains ready, able and willing to engage with members of the Legal Profession to ensure that their constitutional rights and those persons they represent are respected at all times and that there is due process” the statement read.

Additionally, the Police Force stated that it expects that attorneys-at-law conduct themselves in a professional manner and with a due sense of responsibility, in keeping with the ethical standard required of the Legal Profession.

However, the attorney did not conduct himself at that expected level of professionalism on the day in question.

Earlier in the week, Mingo was arrested at his sister’s residence at Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, in connection with alleged electoral fraud.

Mingo was arrested days after the Police Force announced that it was launching a comprehensive investigation into reports of electoral fraud, as advised by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Force’s Legal Adviser.

Court Marshalls have been looking for Mingo to serve him with a warrant for his arrest on criminal charges, which were filed by a private citizen but were unable to locate him for several weeks.

The charges were filed in March by Charles Ramson Jr against Mingo, and PNCR Chair, Volda Lawrence, in relation to the controversial results for District Four.

On Monday, Mingo was absent from a court appearance, while Volda Lawrence was placed on $100,000 bail after appearing before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on private criminal charges, including conspiring to forge documents to show a win for APNU+AFC at the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections.

The charge against Lawrence states that she conspired with persons to forge 24 documents to show a fraudulent win.

Lawrence is also charged with ‘procuring’ Mingo to, on or about March 4, 2020, at Hadfield and High Streets,

This was confirmed by Crime Chief, Senior Superintendent, Wendell Blanhum.

His arrest occurred days after the Police Force announced that it was launching a comprehensive investigation into reports of electoral fraud as advised by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Controversial Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo Georgetown undertake this task.

She is also charged with uttering to the Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, a Form 24 Representation and three of his assistants were also recently arrested as investigations continue.

Livan is being represented by Attorney, Eusi Anderson, who is also representing three assistants of the District Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.

On March 4, during the disrupted tabulations of the District Four count, Livan was questioned by the police after he was accused of abruptly halting the tabulations and secluded himself with a flash drive with GECOM’s information at the Ashmin’s Building,

Party agents and other observers became suspicious when Livan, after complainof the People Act Regional Elections Return dated March 5, 2020, knowing same to be forged, with intent to defraud the people of the State of Guyana. ing of feeling tired and wanted to conclude the tabulation process, left the room with a flash drive and computer, both of which were being used during the tabulation process.

The following day, Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo made a fraudulent declaration which was eventually overturned by the

Livan was later promoted by Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield, to perform the duties of a supervisor at one of the stations for District Four during the national vote recount despite protest by political parties.

Mingo seeks release from custody

CONTROVERSIAL Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, on Thursday, filed an application in the High Court seeking his release from police custody.

Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo

Attorney-at-law Darren Wade

courts.

Lawrence is expected to return to court on September 11. Mingo is also expected to attend court on the date that has been fixed.

GUYANA continues to record a consistent rise in the number of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases with recent statistics showing that the country recorded 47 new cases within the past 24 hours.

Cases continue to rise with every passing day and while it might be alarming, authorities believe that those cases could have gone “under the radar” had it not been for an increase in the number of tests being done.

Health authorities have so far tested 7,654 persons, with 6,514 being negative and 1,140 positive. Of the positive cases, 616 persons have recovered and 32 persons have lost their lives. The remaining cases include 102 persons in institutional isolation, 380 in home isolation and 10 in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The steady rise has caused panic in some cases but there are persons who remain nonchalant and unbothered by the spread. Authorities, however, continue to adjust control measures in order to mitigate the spread of the disease.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer (DCMO), Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle, is of the opinion that some measure of control can be placed on the rapid spread of the virus through contact tracing.

Dr. Boyle, during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), explained that contact tracing is used by health departments to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

She added that contact tracing involves identifying persons who would have come into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.

But for the process to be successful, she said, persons who would have tested positive for the virus must be cooperative with health officials in detailing their movements, and who they would have been in contact with, prior to testing positive for COVID-19.

While a lot is expected of authorities, there is also a role for other sections of society, and it is to this end that President Irfaan Ali recently met with a wide cross-section of stakeholders, including the private sector, small political parties and the media to garner views on how the government’s response to COVID-19 can be more effective.

The President pledged to continue engaging all stakeholders as his government moves towards formalising a concerted strategy to take the country forward.

The President also informed the meeting that sub-committees will be established to tackle pressing COVID-19 related issues head on.

Hurricane Laura’s winds batter Louisiana, killing four

(BBC) At least four people have been killed by falling trees as Hurricane Laura battered the US state of Lou- isiana.

Winds of up to 150mph (240km/h) caused severe dam- age, with power cuts to more than half a million homes and a chemical fire from an industrial plant.

But the feared 20ft (6m) storm surge was avoided as the hurricane, the state’s biggest, tracked further east.

Laura has now been downgraded to tropical storm status as it heads to the Arkansas border.

President Donald Trump was briefed at the Federal Emergency Management Agen- cy (Fema) in Washington and said he would go to the area at the weekend.

He said he had been pre- pared to postpone his speech at the Republican National Convention later on Thursday to travel to the region but add- ed: “We got a bit lucky. It was very big and very powerful but

Friday, August28, 01:00hrs - 02:30hrs

it passed quickly.”

Laura and another storm, Marco, earlier swept across the Caribbean, killing 24 people.

What’s the latest from Louisiana?

Governor John Bel Ed- wards gave a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, confirm- ing four deaths so far from the hurricane.

The victims, killed in sep- arate incidents by trees falling on their homes, included a 14-year-old girl in the Leesville area.

Mr Edwards said that as res- cue work continued. “I’m con- cerned we are going to find more fatalities. I hope and pray not.”

He said there was more structural damage from winds than anticipated, but the water damage was less than feared.

The tracking of the storm slightly further east meant it

More than half a million homes in Louisiana were reported to be without power

avoided creating a storm surge in the shipping channel, he said.

Power lines, roads and bridges were a big concern, he said, with many having to be repaired or checked.

A barge had collided with a bridge in the city of Lake Charles, quite close to where a suspected “chlorine chemical fire” at an industrial plant was being attended by emergency services.

Mr Edwards said people should stay off the roads where possible, as outer bands of the storm were still causing high water levels and winds.

Some 1,500 people, includ- ing National Guard troops, are being deployed in rescue and clean-up missions.

Vice-President Mike Pence, who joined Mr Trump at Fema, said: “While this was a major storm with devastating impact it was not as bad as it could have been.”

Where did Laura hit and what’s its path?

It was one of the stron- gest to ever hit the US Gulf Coast, striking at category four with winds of up to 150mph (240km/h).

It made landfall short- ly after midnight local time (05:00 GMT) near the district of Cameron, in Louisiana. It tracked north, just east of the Texas-Louisiana border.

Laura will track north across Louisiana on Thursday afternoon, with its centre mov- ing into Arkansas overnight.

The National Hurricane Center still warns of high wa- ter levels along some parts of the Gulf coast, and flood- ing rainfall and strong winds for northern Louisiana and south-eastern Arkansas.

More than 600,000 homes in Louisiana and 180,000 in Texas had lost power, accord

ing to the US tracking site PowerOutage.

Lake Charles, a city of 78,000, and its surrounding areas were badly hit. Trees and electricity pylons have been ripped from the ground and vehicles overturned.

Part of the roof of the Golden Nugget Casino flew off, a CNN-affiliated reporter witnessed, and an NWS radar installation was destroyed.

In Sparks, just to the north, Rev Karl Smith rode out the storm in his cellar. He told Reuters: “We just had trees thrown everywhere. It’s a big mess.”

Ahead of the hurricane’s arrival, more than 420,000 Texas residents were ordered to leave, while an additional 200,000 were told to evacuate Calcasieu Parish in south-west- ern Louisiana.

The evacuations were complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

One person headed to a Texas shelter, Eric Daw, told Reuters: “They say we are all supposed to socially distance now. But how am I supposed to socially distance in a shelter?”

What other areas have suf- fered?

Haiti and the Dominican Republic were both earlier badly hit by storms Marco and Laura, with at least 24 fatalities and severe flooding. Thou- sands of homes were damaged and there were extensive power cuts.

Cuba suffered material damage but did not record any deaths.

In Jamaica, there were re- ports of landslides and flooded roads.

The US territory of Puer- to Rico was also hit, with President Trump declaring a state of disaster last Sat- urday.

T&T: Ministry of Health starts home quarantine for mild cases

COVID-19 patients get ready to leave the Racquet Centre in Tacarigua after being released from State quarantine last night.

(TRINIDAD GUARDhad changed both its disover the next few days. days to ensure they do IAN) Faced with a rising charge and admissions Principal Medical Officer not infect others. number of COVID-19 criteria in an attempt to in charge of the parallel cases, the Ministry of keep bed space at the two healthcare system, Dr Health has revised its main treatment hospitals Maryam Richards said approach to the care for the more critical pathe number of patients of COVID-positive patients. at step-down facilities tients. B e f o r e y e s t e r d a y , amount to about 400.

So from today, instead COVID-positive patients In fact, that process of automatically hospiwere required to get two started last night when talising a patient who consecutive negative test patients at the Tacarihas received a positive results before being disgua Racquet Centre stepCOVID diagnosis, the charged to their homes. down facility were alministry will allow them But now, Parasram said the lowed to go home. to stay in the comfort of ministry is adopting World Parasram said while their homes until they Health Organisation (WHO) people will be allowed to recover once their sympguidelines which allow paquarantine and recover at toms are mild. tients to be discharged withhome, the ministry will

This was revealed by out any diagnostic criteria. be closely monitoring Chief Medical Officer Dr “We are trying to enthem to ensure their conRoshan Parasram at the sure that the bed space in ditions do not worsen. ministry’s virtual press hospitals is reserved for “What is going to hapbriefing yesterday. moderately to severely pen is that the CMOH

His announcement ill people. If you spend officers will have a list of came hours after the ten days from the first all the positive cases in country was still reeling onset of your symptoms, the country, they will call from the news that 132 plus three days with no those individuals twice a more people had tested symptoms at all, we will day, do interviews to deterpositive for the virus, discharge you to your mine what your signs and bringing the number of home, give you a quarsymptoms are like, if your active cases to 1,177. antine order to stay for a symptoms have worsened By 6 pm yesterday, the further seven days at your or if they have remained COVID-count had inhome without a diagnosthe same,” Parasram said. creased by 27, bringing tic test being done and He said if the conthe number of active casyou can be assured after dition of any patient on es to 1,204, with 192 that period that you won’t home quarantine worsrecoveries and 15 deaths. be able to transmit the viens, they will be picked The total number of overrus to anyone,” Parasram up by an ambulance and all cases since the virus explained. taken to either the Couva hit the country is now He said those who are Hospital or the Caura 1,411. in step-down facilities Hospitals.

Speaking during the and exhibit no sympParasram said patients press conference, Parastoms will also be allowed will also now need to ram said the ministry to return to their homes quarantine for at least 20

I f y o u h a v e t o self-quarantine, you are advised to: - Stay at home, do not go to work or anywhere else. - Do not allow anyone to visit your home, you can see your friends and family when you have recovered. -Wash your hands before and after playing with your pets. - If you can, use separate bathroom and toilet facilities from the rest of your family. If you cannot, clean the facilities after using them. - Stay in your room and away from the rest of your family.

-Wear a mask when interacting with your family.

-If you need supplies from the supermarket or pharmacy, try to have them delivered to your home instead of venturing out.

(ag)

Restoring accountability and good governance

IT is standard operating procedure for political appointees of an outgoing government to resign.

The expectation that political appointees of the former APNU+AFC administration would take such a principled course of action has not fructified.

PNC-led governments – pre-1992 and the recent Granger-led administration populated the public service landscape with many dysfunctional square pegs in sinecure positions and paying them hefty amounts, with even more being expended on wide-ranging, luxurious benefits. SARA’s aging head, for instance, is being paid in excess of $4M per month, with presidential benefits – all at taxpayers’ expense.

In every ministry, subject ministers are discovering anomalies in administration procedures, especially in financial departments that are horrific revelations, explanatory as to why the nation’s coffers are empty and the country has once again become highly-indebted under another PNC-led administration; but none of the deadweight appointees seem prepared to take the ethical and honourable course of action and give up their gravy trains.

The fundamental prerequisite of good governance is accountability to the people, which was totally lacking in the coalition government.

As the days progress, profound insights are being parlayed to the general public by the authorities now in charge of the nation’s

Dear Editor, THE Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) wishes to advise the public on its procurement process in reference to a letter printed in the Guyana Chronicle on August 25, 2020.

The GRDB’s process of procurement follows the government’s policy with respect to procurement. A request for services originates from one of our departments, an invitation to tender is advertised in the daily newspapers and the board’s business, that expose the economic, political and social morass which the people endured under five years of the PNC-led authoritarian regime.

The magnitude of the exploitation of the nation’s resources for the benefit of a few privileged elitists, even while people, including coalition supporters, were practically starving as a result of unemployment due to COVID-19 lockdown, and the downturn in the economy, consequenced by the coalition government’s profligacy, mismanagement and outright corruption, is assuming gargantuan proportions.

It was this realisation that, without an immediate transition of administration, the hemorrhaging of the nation’s resources would continue unabated, that catalyzed a national unity of purpose - to restore democratic norms in Guyana, which led to the eventual installation of the PPP/C in Government.

The new government’s abiding care for the downtrodden and exploited, manifested even while out of office, has elicited a hope in the nation that fortunes – individually and nationally, would change and soon poverty would be banished from the national landscape. In recognition of this faith, and the suffering Guyanese endured over the past five years under the coalition regime, the governing PPP/C partnership has embarked on a crusade to eliminate all wasteful spending, and restore accountability in the way taxpayers’ monies are being expended. social media pages for a number of days. If no bids are received by the deadline, the second method of restrictive tendering is used.

This involves contacting persons on record at GRDB who previously bid and have the relevant services which are required. All bids received are opened in the presence of the respective bidders who chose to attend the opening and then evaluated by an evaluation committee.

One mandatory criteria for evaluation is the submission of both NIS and GRA

Ridding the nation of those holding sinecure positions is one way of ensuring that the peoples’ money is being used for their welfare and not continuing the trend of financial wastage and profligacy that hallmarked the coalition government’s administration. This is not witch-hunting, but restoring accountability to the socio-economic paradigm of the nation.

When the David Granger administration of 2015 assumed governance, a massive witch-hunt began, with hundreds of politically-influenced and driven dismissals of even technocrats who were assumed to be PPP/C supporters, with unwarranted firing of public service workers sweeping in every sector – every community, first being 2000 Amerindians from Hinterland communities.

These arbitrary dismissals of largely non-political persons who were replaced by mainly incompetent, inexperienced political appointees are being reversed, because a country cannot be governed without knowledgeable employees.

The Irfaan Ali administration recognises that the right of conscience and political choice is a fundamental one that should be respected, hence its assurance that public servants who were employed on merit are assured of job security.

But no new government should tolerate political appointees who were given million-dollar contracts, some just before a transition of power. compliances. As such, any bidder that lacks these compliances are immediately disqualified. An evaluation report is then submitted to the procurement sub-committee.

This committee is comprised of members of the board and staff members, and is chaired by a member of the board of directors. Based on the recommendations of the report provided by the Evaluation Committee, the Procurement Sub-Committee then makes a decision on whether or not to approve these recommendations. The paddy that is sold to millers by the

Rather than optimising the gains inherited from its predecessor, the Granger-led administration almost immediately instituted CoIs to investigate and prosecute former government ministers and administrators, some mere technocrats performing a job they were appointed to do.

Arrests followed, but a continuum of investigations could prove no wrongdoing of those arrested. Millions of tax dollars were wasted in these fruitless exercises which, in effect, were merely another way of providing ‘jobs for the boys’.

Former President and General Secretary of the PPP, now Vice-President described the exercises that saw former ministers of the PPP/C government, as well as CEOs of national institutions handcuffed like common criminals, as witch-hunts meant to deflect attention away from the coalition government’s maladministration, and simultaneously persecute their adversaries in the former PPP/C administrative construct.

The Irfaan Ali administration is intent on restoring accountability and good governance where the people in the nation benefit from their country’s resources.

So, for those persons who refuse to honourably resign from sinecure positions they have been enjoying at taxpayers’ expense, it is imperative that they are removed in accordance with constitutional prerequisites for the benefit of

GRDB explains its procurement process

the nation.

GRDB is paddy that could not be classified as seed paddy.

This is paddy that does not reach the necessary parameters to be termed as viable seed paddy; it is sold as regular paddy to be processed. Paddy that does not reach the quality to be termed as seed paddy was sold for $3100-$3200 per bag.

Abolish the death penalty

Dear Editor,

NOW that the new government is in place, with an efficient attorney-general, it is widely believed that the Constitutional Reform Commission will begin to do real work.

Those who have been clamouring for Constitutional Reforms will get the opportunity to put their proposals and have them seriously considered. So far, almost all the calls for Constitutional Reforms have been woefully short of specifics.

So, I am proposing a concrete issue that needs to be considered, that in relation to capital punishment. It is a contentious matter, the debate has raged here before. It is not an issue restricted to Guyana but one that has been vigourously contested abroad. Therefore, much information and statistics are available to help authorities to come to some conclusion and provide enough information for serious debates.

I believe that the time has come in Guyana when capital punishment should be abolished.

I appreciate the fact that for the families of victims this is a sore issue. The deep feelings are understandable when the hurt of loosing a loved one by such deliberate actions of another person occurs. For some, the immediate response is to ‘do them back’.

A lot of people feel that a murderer has given up his/her own right to life when such a crime is committed. They feel that the death penalty would deter and reduce the incidence of murder.

However, when looked at from a wider angle and from a less emotional circumstances, I think that one of the important tasks we have, as a nation, is to further humanise our own society. While it is true that many factors need to come together to accomplish that task, I am convinced that removing the death penalty is an important step on that road.

Furthermore, the evidence internationally has shown conclusively that capital punishment does not slowdown nor stop murders from occurring. This is an important fact that is often not given the consideration it deserves, it is sometimes even ignored.

Extensive research has been done in many countries of the world, in Europe and North America. Much work on the issue was also done by the UN as well. All of those studies have concluded that the death penalty is not a deterrent for capital crimes.

Indeed, in many cases it has been observed that countries and states in Europe and the US where the death penalty was abolished, the murder rate was lower than those countries/states which retained it. This is no exception it is almost the norm. At a minimum, abolition does not lead to increase in murders.

There is also a moral argument that should be considered. If we conclude that taking another person’s life is wrong, then by extension we can say that the state taking lives of people cannot, therefore, be right.

With the best will in the world, mistakes would be made and innocent people would be executed. This is not a seldom occurrence. We have seen the frequency with which innocent persons were executed in various parts of the world. The US which is a very open society, shows this with an alarming regularity. The situation is pervasive enough for some politicians and political commentators to conclude that there is more than an element of racism in this since the majority of those who have been innocently executed and incarcerated were African Americans and other minorities, for example, Latinos.

A lot of this is the result of poverty. Because the families of those accused of murder are often unable to afford the best lawyers and get the best representation, the accused are very often poorly represented in court. That leads to them being found guilty, when in fact many were innocent. Even now many innocent people are in jail and on death row.

This leads me to the other general point that should be seriously considered and lead us to abolish capital punishment.

That is the social composition of those who have been executed.

Almost 100 per cent came from the poor and the working poor. These are persons who face unbelievable difficult circumstances and challenges every day. These are persons who live almost literally in a pressure cooker. Those circumstances are responsible for crimes and the creation of criminals.

On the other hand, the perpetrators of other types of crimes that continuously kill people daily and silently, get away with it scot free.

These are the corrupt bureaucrats, or some corrupt business people who make millions and billions of dollars by illegal means. Such actions help to perpetuate poverty, deprive children of proper food, leads to malnutrition and retard intellectual development.

In almost all these cases these people walk free. According to the Mighty Sparrow, these criminals are ‘high in society’ and are the ‘good citizens’ of the world.

In this regard, another dangerous trend has arisen in politics generally. Many politicians like to create the impression that they are tough. We all see the American television and we see how Democrats and Republicans are vying to create the impression of their ‘toughness’. Tough on crime, tough on Russia, tough on China, tough on Cuba, tough on Iran, tough on Venezuela, etc. the talk of being tough has become a big seller for many politicians.

This is not confined to the US. Globalisation is not just about economics, but also about ideas. Because the US has the biggest economy and an unbelievable powerful mass media, their ideas, good and bad, are widely disseminated through the world and have great influence.

Many of the political tactics used in the US are often adopted outside. So, we will hear the same talk of being tough repeated from the north to the south. And using the death penalty is one of the easiest ways to project the image of ‘toughness’.

Therefore, to portray such an image some persons could face the gallows, some could be innocent. In my view, if one such person is wrongly murdered, because that’s what it is, then we should stop this practice throughout the world. One innocent person being sent to his/her death is far too much.

My own position should be clear by now. I stand for those forms of punishment that would discourage crimes and deter capital crimes in particular. However, we must be humane, we must demonstrate to our people humaneness. Setting the correct example is important in moulding a free and democratic country.

We must oppose the death penalty completely! This is for the sake of our nation as a whole.

Yours sincerely, Donald Ramotar Former President