56 minute read
the Caricom team’s re
You can send your letters with pictures to: Guyana Times, Queens Atlantic Investment Estate Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, Georgetown, Guyana or letters@guyanatimesgy.com
Roxane Burnham to Mottley: Our steel is sharper
Dear Prime Minister Mottley,
After a hard day’s work, I listened to the statement by Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Chairman of Caricom, regarding the election which were just held in Guyana, and who was asked to use her good office to assist in the finality of the results of the March 2nd 2020 election.
Your statement, Prime Minister, is one of blatant disregard for the respect which should be afforded a sister Caribbean State.
Listening to you, Prime Minister Mottley, and knowing of all the details related to this process, you should know what occurred during the 80s, when Barbados was against Caricom’s relations with the Republic of Cuba. You should know that Barbados was a leader in the gang of seven for the invasion of Grenada. You should know that this is not the first time that Guyana was threatened with expulsion from Caricom.
Guyana has been down this road, and we have experience to withstand whatever you and the other members of the “cabal” may try to bring pressure on the Guyana Elections Commission.
I am amazed that you would walk away from a process which you started, but maybe you came like the Trojan Horse, but you must know that our steel is sharper.
Prime Minister Mottley, you are an attorney, and have been the Attorney General of Barbados, and hence should not be a stranger to truth. However, today your statement has raised serious doubts in my mind. You were in agreement with the gazetted order which had established the process which should be followed in the recount. The process examined the ballots and identified the irregularities which were executed in a transparent manner. Among the irregularities were votes cast by the dead; votes cast by impersonation; proxy votes cast without the requisite documentation, and many more categories of irregularities.
Now, as far as I am aware, Prime Minister, your mental health is optimum. So why would you want to ignore the objective and the defined recount process established by a legal process? I am indeed saddened by your behaviour, as the Chairman of Caricom, in showing your umbilical linkage to gamesmanship and the willingness to ignore principles of truth and fairness. Your avoidance of these sacred principles must raise question marks in the minds of your political opponents.
One does not know what a retrospective analysis might reveal for Barbados. I am sure that you are very familiar with the Order, and understood the relevance of the Observation reports in the recount process. If they were not important, why were the signatures of all parties required?
What is your message, Prime Minister? Are you in fact saying that you have a comfort level with the inclusion of fraudulent votes in the electoral process of Guyana? This is indeed worrying that the Chairman of Caricom, and sitting Prime Minister, would accept fraudulent votes in a democratic process. Would you accept fraudulent votes in your Party’s elections?
Guyana has its own Appeal Court, and of course its own Constitution. In a rather gross and disrespectful manner, you have issued a statement ignoring the ruling of Guyana’s Court of Appeal which, in a most bizarre manner, seeks to influence the Caribbean Court of Justice. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Prime Minister Mottley, you have ruled yourself out of the Guyanese Electoral Process, and you are likened unto the families of Ananias and Sapphira and Judas Iscariot. Additionally, your silence was deafening when your colleague Prime Minister Owen Arthur called for the expulsion of Guyana from Caricom. But as the good book says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.
Lastly, as a University graduate and a person not wedded to mediocrity, you should not be guided by the report of your Caricom team of Observers/Scrutineers. The report was severely flawed in the sampling methodology, and filled with bias. No one who is serious will accept the report with the sampling frame and methodology. I am sure that if any of your professionals who work around you were to submit a report of that quality, you would deal with them condignly. Hence, Prime Minister, what is it that is in store for you? That is the million gram of MERCURY question.
Roxane Burnham Van West-Charles
Roxane Burnham, we are in 2020
Dear Editor,
Today, 115 days after a peaceful and orderly voting process, we are going through the up-and-down, in-and-out ride of the PNC ring-aroundthe-roses we won the elections, the elections must be annulled, then we won again. It seems the PNC want to change our national sports to “One, Two, Three Red Light”, and now you come at this moment to add your voice, but the young people of today will not have it.
People of a bygone era should just stay quiet. If you are following the Black Lives Matter protest, you should be aware that, all over the world, oppressors’ statues and names are being removed. While you sit in Miami, the residents of Roxane Burnham Gardens have not seen one of the oppressors you are defending, not one mask or hamper.
For the scion of Forbes Burnham to attempt to engage the Chair of Caricom on her defence of freedom and the civil charter, it is calisthenics in dauntlessness of gold medal proportions that is redolent of LFSB’s the Führer comments: “We are not a colony, let us settle our internal matter in Guyana. It is our right to say when they may come and when they may not come, I am tired of these busy-bodies”.
The Animal Farm comments are well documented and not lost is Guyana 55 years’ history.
Today, it is astonishing that the name Burnham would enter a conversation and try to engage Mia Motley on issues such as freedom and democracy. I ask: Is it an epiphany that a Burnham would seek to censure people interested in safeguarding the will of the people? I say to you, plenipotentiary of the dark era, that neither your class nor popularity is anywhere close to that of Mottley’s and the free world’s, and the Guyanese people will not tolerate the likes of you, who represent the dinosaur mentality.
Guyana has freed itself of the economic shackles that we inherited from LFSB. We no longer strap ourselves with sardine, nor do we smuggle flour; we are not seen as the fleeing refugees in the Caribbean.
While it is routine for a daughter not to speak ill of her father, nor a wife of her husband, the new generation, unprejudiced of the Burnham epoch, is watching the daily as Richard Van West-Charles tries to reintroduce smuggling as a national economic activity vis-à-vis his fuel operations. Mrs. Burnham-Van WestCharles, I respect your right to your opinion, but you should also respect the will of the Guyanese people, and be responsible in your ramblings. In case you did not hear, APNU-AFC has lost the March 2nd 2020 elections by 15,461 votes.
The institutions of our state which your father once controlled with iron fist are not as politicised as they once were. Your dad’s fear of the Privy Council seems to be your fear of the CCJ and Caricom. No longer is the PNC paramount, and no one would tolerate a dictator who refuses to adhere to democratic principles.
Respectfully, Rovin Adrian
The last refuge of a scoundrel
Dear Editor,
Every government, organisation or person that or who has publicly condemned the flagrant, vulgar and incessant attempts by the rigging cabal and their acolytes to perpetrate fraud at the 2nd March 2020 elections held in Guyana and to attempt to defeat the will of the electorate and steal the new Government, has been met with public vitriolic abuse and vilification.
The latest victim is the Honourable Mia Mottley QC, Prime Minister of Barbados and Chairperson of Caricom. One of the latest perpetrators is Lincoln Lewis. Lewis’s politics is well known. He has been a rabid and unashamed advocate and supporter of the fraudulent electoral machinations and illicit design of APNU+AFC and the undemocratic agenda clandestinely being executed within the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from the inception.
It dates back to his public support for the unconstitutional appointment of James Patterson as the Chair of GECOM. He has been both consistent and unwavering in his public position on every attempt at electoral chicanery since. He supported the unlawful house-to-house registration exercise. He supported the attempts to remove tens of thousands of registered electors from the National Register of Registrants (NRR) database. He supported Mingo’s fraudulent declarations. He supports Lowenfield’s latest perversity. His position now, therefore, surprises none. The poison that toxicates his mind and which affects his every outlook is well known, but that is for another time.
He accuses the Honourable Mottley of making sub-judice comments on the case before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). He chastises her for so doing, citing her Queen’s Counselship. I am not sure how much Mr. Lewis knows about the sub-judice doctrine. I do not pretend to know much about it myself, but I do know that it relates to comments that are made with the intention of, or are likely to, prejudice the outcome of a pending case.
I also know that the doctrine must bend and bow to the might of free speech, which is universally guaranteed as a basic human right. The multiple frauds that are attempted in the Guyana electoral process are not only matters of high national importance, but are also matters of regional and universal importance.
In a free society, therefore, every citizen has a freedom to express a view on the issue, including one that is critical and condemnatory. Like Lewis, who publicly supports these fraudulent designs, Ms. Mottley is also a member of a free society, and therefore enjoys that freedom to be critical and condemnatory of the same fraudulent designs.
I have listened to Ms. Mottley’s entire speech. Firstly, no reference was made whatsoever to the litigation at the CCJ; and secondly, nothing said in that speech can be interpreted as prejudicing the outcome of those proceedings. No doubt, Ms. Mottley is aware of those legal proceedings. I am also in no doubt that she exercised her mind judiciously, taking into account the sub-judice principle when she spoke. Alas, she is Silk, and I dare say worthy of it.
In fact, in her capacity as the Chairperson of Caricom, Ms. Mottley has a duty to make the subject remarks for the following reasons: 1.) Guyana is a member of Caricom, of which she is the current Chair; 2.) Caricom fielded an observer team to the elections. That team certified the elections as free and fair; 3.) upon Mr. David Granger’s initiative, Mottley brokered an accord for a national recount of the ballots to be done. Caricom dispatched a team to oversee the National Recount exercise; 4.) Mr. Granger cited Caricom as the “most legitimate interlocutor” to observe the elections, and demanded that GECOM take into account the Caricom team’s report; 5.) the Caricom team’s report certified the elections to be fair and credible, and labelled the allegations by APNU+AFC to be false and unsubstantiated.
In the circumstances, as a result of Keith Lowenfield’s fraudulent Report, Ms. Mottley could not have remained silent. She was not alone. The Commonwealth and the Ambassadors of the ABC countries and the EU publicly expressed similar sentiments.
To the Lewises of Guyana, I say that the overwhelming majority of Guyanese, including objective supporters of the APNU+AFC, welcome these enlightened foreign interventions, and we will continue to encourage them. However, I do appreciate that political demagogues, autocrats, authoritarians and dictators will label them as “interference” and “attacks upon sovereignty” under the rubric of patriotism.
After all, “patriotism” has long been the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Stop the vile sexist and homophobic comments about Mia Mottley
Dear Editor,
They aren’t many female Heads of State in the world. It has been heartbreaking as a young lady to read the vile distasteful and disrespectful things supporters of the coalition are saying.
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley became Barbados’s first female Prime Minister, she secured a historic landslide victory and won all seats in their parliament.
The glass ceiling was thoroughly shattered. Though I am not surprised by the new narrative of members of the coalition, after all, look at their representation, where are all the women? The women of the coalition have not impressed or inspired me.
Why are they silent when their supporters and colleagues are making their distasteful comments about this inspirational female leader? Where is Sandra Granger? Why is Cathy Hughes suddenly silent?
Not only it is disrespectful to women everywhere, but it is also disrespectful to the LGBTQ community. To refer to a female leader as “man” and use male pronouns, clearly is a mockery and is unpalatable.
Not only it is rude, but you are also mocking an entire community who are fighting to be recognized, whom only a daily basis gets referred to by all kinds of degrading terms, and have to constantly have to explain the concept of preferred pronouns.
STOP with the disrespectful, unpalatable personal attacks!
Page Foundation
Guyana Times is pleased to publish the Education Ministry’s National Grade Six Assessment Past Papers and CXC questions. Below are the second part of Social Studies Paper 1, 2009 and CXC English.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION NATIONAL GRADE SIX ASSESSMENT SOCIAL STUDIES
1. WRITE YOUR CANDIDATE NUMBER ON THE ANSWER SHEET AND UNDERLINE THE SUBJECT.
This test contains 40 QUESTIONS. You are required to answer ALL questions. Four responses are given for each question. The responses are A, B, C and D. Only ONE response is correct. 3. If you are not sure of the answer to question, then choose the one which you think is BEST. On your draw a heavy black line through the letter you have chosen. 4 BE SURE THAT THE QUESTION NUMBER IN THE BOOKLET IS THE SAME AS THE ONE YOU HAVE USED YOUR ANSWER SHEET. Here is an example done for you. 1.The capital of Guyana is (A) Linden (B) Georgetown (C) Rose Hall (D) Lethem (A) (B) (C) (D) A heavy black line has been drawn through the letter B on the answer sheet because 9, the correct answer, is next to B. If you make a mistake, erase the line cleanly, then draw a heavy black line through the letter next to the answer have now chosen. 6. REMEMBER-each answer MUST only be shown by a heavy black line on your Answer Sheet.
7. Remember only one answer must be provided for each question.
8. DO NOT TURN OVER PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.
Study the map below, then answer question 17.
17. The shaded area is important because (A) the soil is rich and fertile., (B) all the towns are found thqre. (C) gold mining is carried on there. (D) forest reserves are located there. 18. The main economic activity of the area marked X X is (A) cattle ranching. (B) rice farming. (C) bauxite mining. (D) balata bleeding. 19. Which of the following is not a fort in Guyana? -( A) Nova Zeetandia (B) Kyk-over-al (C) Nassau (D) Damon's Cross
20. The great leaders who sought independence, for Guyana were (A) Janet Jagan, Arthur Chung, Desmonctiloyte. (B) Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, Forbes Burnham, Janet
Jagan. (C) Peter D'Aguair, Martin Carter, Cheddie Jagan. (D) Forbes Burnham, Cheddie Jagan, Peter D'Aguair. 21. Value Added Tax (V.A.T) was placed on certain foodstuff to (A) control the eating habits of people. (B) increase revenue collection. (C) encourage the use of local foods. (D) promote fair food distribution. 22. Caricom countries buy most of their sugar from Guyana because (A) of, the high quality of the product. (B) Guyana is the only sugar producing country. (C) it is cheaper to buy the sugar from Guyana. (D) of its high degree of sweetness.
Read the information below then answer question 24
23. The information above would most likely be given by a (A) real estate agent. (B) post office. (C) car dealer. (D) cambio dealer.
Study the picture below then answer question 24.
24. The picture best reminds us that we must (A) eat nutritious foods. (C) support the local farmers. (B) eat more foreign foods. (D) drink more milk.
TO BE CONTINUED
CXC ENGISH
By Olive Seni
r
Declaration of elections results must be based on national recount – Norway
Norway’s Ambassador to
Guyana, Nils Martin Gunneng
The Kingdom of Norway has now joined mounting calls for the figures emanating from the national recount to be used as the basis for the declaration of the winner of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
In a post on Thursday, Norway’s Ambassador to Guyana, Nils Martin Gunneng urged that the declaration of the elections results be based on the Caricom-certified recount.
“Norway joins the call for a fair and transparent conclusion of the Guyana Elections. The declaration of the election result must be based on the national recount, as witnessed by the Caricom observer mission,” the Norwegian Ambassador tweeted as he reposted a joint Statement from the ABCE diplomats in Guyana as well as shared the link of a video statement from Caricom
Caricom Chair and Barbados' Prime Minister, Mia Mottley
Chair, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley – both made on Wednesday.
The 34-day national recount exercise showed a victory for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) by over 15,000 votes over its main political rival, the caretaker A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/ AFC) coalition.
The recount process was scrutinised by a high-level Caricom team, which in its report to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) last week said that “nothing we witnessed, warrants a challenge to the inescapable conclusion that the recount results are acceptable and should constitute the basis of the declaration of results of the March 2, 2020 elections”.
Despite this, however, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield on Tuesday submitted his final elections report to the
United States Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak Commission in which he invalidated more than 115,000 votes. Lowenfield’s new figures, which he says are “valid and credible votes”, have invalidated nearly 25 per cent of the votes cast at the March polls.
Since then, pressure has been mounting for the will of the Guyanese people expressed at the March 2 polls to be respected and for the results from the national recount, which were certified, to form the basis for the declaration of the election results.
The Caricom Chair had questioned “on what grounds and by what form of executive fiat does the Chief Elections Officer determine that he should invalidate one vote, far less 115,000 votes?”
Meanwhile, the Heads of the ABCE diplomatic missions in Guyana – United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union (EU) – stressed that “every vote
US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch
cast by every voter” must be reflected in the declaration of the final elections results.
Even acting Assistant Secretary for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, also tweeted on Wednesday evening that Guyanese spoke clearly at the March 2 polls.
“Guyana’s electorate spoke clearly & respected international observers @OAS_official & @ CARICOMorg have certified the recount results as credible. We join them in calling for a conclusion to the electoral process in #Guyana & the announcement of a winner,” Kozak said.
Moreover, the Commonwealth Secretariat had also on Wednesday condemned the move by Lowenfield and warned of the consequences that this could bring to Guyana’s reputation as a democratic nation.
“We call on all responsible par
Canadian High Commissioner Lilian Chatterjee
ties to consider the consequences to Guyana’s reputation as a democratic country if such an approach was allowed to stand,” the Commonwealth Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland posited in her missive on Wednesday.
Last week after GECOM had decided to go ahead with the declaration of the elections based on the recount results, the APNU/AFC, through its supporter Eslyn David, approached the Court of Appeal.
Now, the Appeal Court’s ruling that “more votes cast” means “more valid votes cast” is being challenged at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) by the PPP/C which has contended that the Court’s pronouncements have “plunged the law in total confusion and it is now no longer clear how an election of members of the National Assembly is to be challenged and how the election of the President can be challenged.”
8NEWS FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
APNU/AFC protest in New Amsterdam
Supporters charged for violating COVID-19 measures following protest
Former Member of Parliament, Barbara Pilgrim
Six supporters of the A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance for Change (APNU-AFC) who were part of a planned protest last week were on Thursday charged for violating COVID-19 restrictive measures and appeared at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court to answer the charge.
They are former Member of Parliament Barbara Pilgrim; Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens; Executive Member of the Regional Arm of the PNC, Kirk Fraser; Karen France; Pollyann Shultz and Quacy Joseph.
They were all charged with attending a social event in contravention of Number 2 (1) (A) of the COVID-19 emergency measures.
Fraser, Shultz and France pleaded guilty and were fined
Karen France
$10,000 each, while Stephens, Joseph and Pilgrim denied the charge and were granted bail in the sum of $10,000 each.
However, some of the charges might have been as a result of media pressure on the Police, after the Police had initially said that they
Director of Regional Health Services, Jevaughn Stephens
told the protesters to disperse when questioned about the protest.
Video recording emerged of the protesters marching through the streets of New Amsterdam on June 18, with the Police leading the procession and some officers diverting traffic so that the procession can have priority.
Following social media pressure, the Police subsequently announced that charges were expected to be laid.
On Thursday last, supporters of the Peoples National Congress (PNC), protesting under the APNU/AFC banner, marched from Princess Elizabeth Road to Strand and St Magdalene Street, where the Party’s Regional Office is located. There they were addressed by Regional Secretary
Quacy Joseph
Shurla Scott and Member of the Central Executive Committee Barbara Pilgrim.
Meanwhile, at the court on Thursday, Attorney-atlaw James Bond accused the Police of falsifying evidence against two of the accused.
“The footage shows clearly that Mr Stephens was not at Princess Elizabeth Road, Quacy Joseph was not at Princess Elizabeth Road, and the Police would have trumped up these charges against these individuals. The Police maliciously falsified evidence and statements to show that Mr Stephens and Mr Joseph were present. They were not present,” Bond reiterated.
Stephens, Pilgrim and Joseph are expected to return to court on July 14.
GECOM restrained from...
FROM PAGE 3
“We have ensured that the Chief Elections Officer has been served with all of the papers in these proceedings, including the orders of this Court… in particular the case management order. We reminded him up until this morning, that this case management was on and we’ve also ensured that the link for these proceedings were sent to him so that he’d be able to attend. So, everything has been done to ensure that he’d be here, and, therefore, it is surprising that he’s not,” Mendes stated.
Lowenfield on Tuesday morning presented his final elections report to GECOM, in which he invalidated some 115,000 votes.
The GECOM Chair had instructed the CEO to submit his filed report based on the figures emanating from the national recount, which show the PPP/C in a landslide victory with over 15,000 votes more than the caretaker APNU/AFC coalition.
However, before Lowenfield submitted his report last week, he was served with the Eslyn David Notice of Motion. After the Appeal Court’s ruling on Monday, the CEO went ahead and submitted his report to GECOM disenfranchising more than 115,000 voters. This was despite the Court of Appeal staying its judgement for three days.
But AG Williams was quick to defend Lowenfield’s action in court, telling the panel that there was confusion, because the coercive orders sought by David in the Appeal Court to restrain the CEO from submitting his report were not granted, he believed that he could go ahead with submitting his report.
“I suspect that before your order came out, the CEO had no impediments there. So that’s why he felt that he could’ve acted, and they’ve done nothing since,” Williams told the Court.
On the contrary, however, SC Mendes told the CCJ panel that Lowenfield was present during the Appeal Court’s ruling on Monday when it stayed its ruling. Yet, by the following day, he was able to “find his way to invalidating 115,000 votes. I was hoping that he (Lowenfield) would be here today, so that in the event that what he did, as the Attorney General is suggesting, was simply an error, a mistake of some sort, that he would tell the court that he would be withdrawing his report…”
Nevertheless, the requests for the CCJ panel to intervene and have Lowenfield withdraw his report was not granted by the Court on Thursday, which contended that the CEO’s submission of the report was done prior to its order issued late Tuesday afternoon.
“We cannot undo what was done by the Chief Elections Officer,” Justice Saunders posited, urging the parties that they could address this matter in their submissions.
Meanwhile, the Court also clarified that it was yet to ascertain its jurisdiction in the matter, telling the parties that this preliminary aspect of the case would be consolidated with the substantive hearing. This, according to the CCJ President, was in the interest of time and the urgency of the matter.
“We do not propose to drag out these proceedings by hearing preliminary points in a serial manner. We will hear preliminary points at the same time as we hear the points of substance… There is nothing to preclude us from hearing all of these matters. And then if the preliminary points succeed, then we won’t have to delve into the other matters, but if the preliminary points fail, then we would have saved time by already having before us all of the submissions on those matters that go beyond the preliminary point that may or may not fail,” Justice Saunders asserted.
Moreover, the CCJ President went on to assure the parties that the Court would treat this matter based only on what was presented to it by the parties – as it has always done. This assurance was made after concerns were raised by SC Jeremie about statements being made by persons with “considerable influence in the Region” on the matter.
“You can rest assured that we are not going to have regard to anything that which is being said outside the court and which is not being featured as a relevant part of these proceedings,” Justice Saunders stressed.
The full CCJ bench is presiding over this matter. In addition to Justice Saunders, the CCJ panel includes Justices Jacob Wit, Winston Anderson, Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, Denys Barrow, Andrew Burgess, and Peter Jamadar.
Meanwhile, the APNU/ AFC in a desperate distortion conveniently plucked one sentence from what Justice Saunders had stated on Thursday’s case management hearing. This was according to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who made reference to Justice Saunders’ statement on the submission of Chief Elections Officer Lowenfield’s recent report to the GECOM. Justice Saunders said, “We cannot undo what was done by the Chief Elections Officer. If Counsel wish to include it in his submissions whether what was done was lawfully done or whether there is to be no consequence or whether there is consequence to what was done, you are free to do so but certainly did not intend in these proceedings to embark upon the substantive issues”.
“It is clear that the Judge was implying that the issue regarding the Chief Elections Officer may be dealt with at the hearing but not at the case management stage of the case, that is, at Thursday’s hearing,” Nandlall stated.
Et tu…
…PNC?
For decades in the seventies and eighties, Burnham and the PNC made Guyanese ashamed to face their brothers and sisters in the Caribbean. Whatever we might’ve said about the British and their colonial rule, they did impart to all of us a respect for the rule of law and for dealing with our affairs with a sense of dignity. We sniffed haughtily at those “excitable” Latin types around us with their tin pot dictators and starving populace!!
Until Burnham – for us Guyanese.
When fellow West Indians complained about their hurricanes and earthquakes, we checkmated them by simply pointing out: “We have Burnham!!”
With the return of free and fair elections in 1992, the PPP didn’t just have to repair the shattered economy that had scattered our people as servants across the Caribbean, they also had to repair our reputations as a “starving guts” people. And they did. But we can’t forget the help of our Caribbean brothers and sisters, who didn’t just do so by taking is in; but even at the governmental level, when, for instance, T&T forgave almost half a billion in US dollars’ debt!!
And don’t forget they all came around to help fix our political system when the PNC insisted it had won the 1997 elections – even though all Observers certified them as credible. They brokered the Herdmanston Accord with its far-reaching agreement on Constitutional change. But here it is again, two decades later, the PNC is not only disputing another election – one that it was caught red-handed fiddling with the ballots! – but now biting CariCom’s hand that once again is stretched out to help our beleaguered Guyanese people.
As CariCom Chair, Mia Mottley, had cause to remind this bunch of ingrates in the PNC - starting with the Sanctimonious Gangster David Granger - she and four other Caricom heads didn’t have to come to Guyana when Granger suggested a recount - supposedly to fix the rig. But they did. And they didn’t have to send “the most trusted interlocutors” – the CariCom Observer team for both the elections and the recount – but they did.
And what did they get, just for reporting what they saw? One of the nastiest cussing out in the region since Toussaint defeated the French Expeditionary Force!! Bruce Golding, ex-PM of Jamaica; Owen Arthur, ex-PM of Barbados; and incumbent PM (and current CariCOM Chair) Mia Mottley have been insulted in the worst way possible.
While the world is roiling from the anti-black racism, especially in white-majority countries, here in our Caribbean - where blacks have been ruling since the 1960s - the PNC have the temerity to accuse all these black Leaders of being paid off by the PPP!!
Et tu, PNC??
...Basil Williams?
Yesterday, your Eyewitness dropped in on the CCJ’s “Case Management Meeting” dealing with the Appeal brought by the Opposition parties about our Court of Appeal arrogating itself jurisdiction to hear the PNC’s petition to prevent the GECOM Chair from instructing her CEO on what data to use for his report. He concluded that one of the positives that’ll remain after this COVID-19 pandemic will be these long-distance meetings via Zoom. Like “Google”, “Zoom” is destined to become a communications verb!
He also found out that as far as loyalty to the PNC cause goes, Basil Williams isn’t prepared to go down the line. After PPP Counsel Mendes complained that after being served, Lowenfield still absented himself from the hearing, after he’d played fast and loose with the CoA’s order to stay put; Williams rushed to Lowenfield’s defence with a convoluted explanation, but after Mendes suggested that he (Williams) inform Lowenfield about his obligations, the newly-minted Senior Counsel huffily snorted, “I ain’t no messenger!!”
After all that Lowenfield has done!! Et tu, Bannuh?
…Nagamootoo??
How far will PNC doormat Moses Nagamootoo go to save his super salary?? He just accused the US of “interfering” in Guyana’s elections because of their interest in ousting Maduro next door!!
Is it not enough to cuss CariCom leaders?
Readers are invited to send their comments by email to eye@guyanatimesgy.com
NEWS 9 FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM Guyana’s post-NCM image “took a severe beating” – Irfaan Ali
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday highlighted that Guyana’s image suffered a ‘severe beating’ ever since the passage of the No-Confidence Motion against the Granger regime in 2018, which later catapulted the country into a state of instability.
International organisations, observer groups, and the diplomatic community have looked at the country in disdain after months have passed without the appointment of a Head of State.
For almost four months, the country has also been left at a standstill as it awaits a credible declaration from the March 2, 2020 polls. In the national recount, the PPP/C emerged victorious based on the number of certified votes garnered.
Speaking at a live forum, he emphasised that a country’s stature should represent its respect for the rule of law, democracy and international relationships – all of which are essential in building investments. But the fight by the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) to cling to power has changed the way the country is perceived on the international stage.
“The image of our country took a severe beating in the last few months, or maybe more. Maybe the last year and a half since the passage of the No-Confidence Motion. The image of a country is very important for stability, for in
PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali
vestment. You are presenting an image to the international community that you are a serious country, that you take seriously the rule of law, issues of democracy, that you take very seriously the constitution of that country and that you respect the international charters that you are a part of,” he asserted.
Guyana has stood as a member of the Caribbean Community, Commonwealth, the United Nations, Organisation of American States and many other reputable organisations. According to him, they have proved important in lending a third eye in ensuring that the elections were transparent and credible.
Dr Ali further stated that these entities singularly pointed out that Region Four’s Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo provided falsified results thus calling for a national recount, which upon its completion showed the PPP/C emerging victorious.
“Unfortunately, what we have here in Guyana is that all the stakeholders who came here to oversee our elections are of the singular view that 1) the tabulation of District Four votes by Mingo was fraudulent and that everyone embraced a national recount. All these observers are also of the singular view that the outcome of the recount results which showed a People’s Progressive Party/ Civic victory is credible, acceptable, and should be result that is used by GECOM for the declaration of the President,” Dr Ali noted.
Meanwhile, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield submitted a report on Tuesday to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat which did not reflect the recount results and more importantly, disenfranchised some 115,000 voters. Dr Ali lamented that this ‘concocted’ document was created with the intention of derailing the will of the people.
The Presidential Candidate contended, “He was a part of this deep-seated, deep-rooted conspiracy to steal an election, to steal a country and that is a fundamental point…The world and every democratic force are on the same page, that is, the results of the recount are acceptable.”
Meanwhile, he also called out the APNU/AFC coalition for playing mind games with their supporters as it contin
taker Government launched an attack on current Head of Caricom, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, after she spoke out on the recent move by CEO Lowenfield to invalidate over 115,000 votes. The Caricom Head, along with Heads of the ABCE diplomatic missions in Guyana – United States, Britain, Canada and the European Union, expressed that the results from the national recount must form the basis for the declaration of the election results.
However, they all came under attack by the David Granger-led coalition and Mottley’s statement was labelled as “ill-informed and ill-advised”. The coalition then retracted its statement, citing errors.
The coalition has also, in the past, insisted that other countries should not meddle in Guyana’s affairs and later reached out to these stakeholders for funding and monetary grants.
Caretaker President David Granger
ued to hinder the announcement of a winner from the polls. This has added to the impression created of Guyana by overseas entities.
“The unfortunate thing here is the way the APNU/ AFC have treated their supporters. Their supporters would have voted for them, but I’m sure their supporters, the majority of which, do not agree with the state of the affairs and for them to play psychological games with their supporters is not right.”
He added, “We’re in a situation where the group of persons who are trying to take away the rights of the people and to impose themselves on this country are trying to present a narrative, but the world has changed. When we say we live in a global village and are part of a global community, it means something.”
Just Wednesday, the care
10 NEWS FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
6 new COVID-19 cases recorded
– active cases now stand at 95
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud on Thursday confirmed that six new cases of COVID-19 were detected, thus raising the total cases to 215 to date.
While delivering the daily update, he announced that another 84 tests were conducted within one day, but only six of those samples returned positive results. The number of deaths remains at 12.
The total number of tests done is 2355 with 2140 persons being negative. There have been 108 recoveries.
In the various quarantine facilities, 95 persons are being presently treated with 16 persons in institutional quarantine and one patient
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shamdeo Persaud
in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
However, it was indicated that the July-August vacation period for students will commence in just a few days and many may venture outdoors.
The CMO advised parents to find alternative activities to keep their children indoors this year, in order to protect their families.
“We empathise with you, because the pandemic has curtailed most of their outdoor activities, the most important being that they have been unable to attend school. The upcoming holidays will be challenging as you try to keep them engaged, but most importantly safe. We, therefore, ask you to start thinking ahead of innovative activities that are just as fun which can be conducted within the confines of your residence. Keeping your children safe is a priority and we hope that you remain committed to this task,” he suggested.
The pandemic has not affected healthcare services to antenatal mothers, as clinics remain open and persons can be seen by doctors at these facilities. It was highlighted that they are working to ensure early detection and diagnosis.
Dr Persaud informed, “Our childhealth clinics and antenatal clinics continue to function as our children’s vaccination and growth monitoring is an ongoing process. Our antenatal mothers still need to be seen and examined at clinic for us to ensure that the pregnancy period is safe and without complications. If complications arise, we would like to diagnose these in a timely manner so that management can be initiated early.”
Parents of children who are due for their HPV vaccines are asked to seek this service at the nearest health centre. These children should be within the age range of nine to 16 years of age.
On Wednesday, the CMO had acknowledged the fact that repatriates were providing inaccurate information to health officials upon their return. This time around, Dr Persaud clarified that the publication of their names will help in tracking the disease across the country.
“Please note that the publication of your names is not designed to embar
rass you, but is a part of our surveillance activities which help us to track this disease, so that the management can be more effective. So, we ask you to cooperate with the health officials, whose work is doubled when they call and are unable to follow up with you,” he expressed.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the total number of cases is 9, 129,146 with 473,797 deaths. In the Region of the Americas, the number of cases is 4,507, 006 with 226,504 deaths.
NEWS 11 FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM GAWU tells ‘sugar belt’ workers to brace for no salary today
…flood-prone coastal villages now under threat, no money for fuel at pump stations
Thousands of employees across the sugar belt are being told by their union representatives that the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo) is without funds to make good on payment of wages and salaries for this month, expected to be paid on June 26 (today).
This is according to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), which in a public statement on Thursday warned that the situation is compounded by the fact that the corporation has in fact ceased production and that sales from sugar and molasses have also come to an end.
GAWU additionally warned on Thursday that sources in the Governmentowned holding company National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) are still to make available to the sugar corporation any of the promised support.
According to GAWU, this has led to a state of affairs where “the state-owned company will exhaust its remaining funds by this weekend.”
As such, according to GAWU, “…monthly-paid employees of the Company, who were to be paid on June 26, 2020, will not receive their salaries, as there are insufficient resources to offset the payment.”
GAWU said, “Persons in the GuySuCo, we have learnt, are very anxious at this time, considering production has halted and incomes from the sales of sugar and molasses have ceased.”
The sugar workers’ representative said in its missive that it has since been indicated that if “NICIL does not release any monies soon, the company will be forced to close its doors.”
Additionally, GAWU reiterated that with several more weeks before the second crop commences, the industry requires about $1 billion to meet wages and salaries’ expenditures, while additional monies are required to meet other opera
Headquarters of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL)
tional expenses.
Flood threats!
The union noted also that “there are some worries that in the absence of sufficient funds, the Corporation may not be able to purchase sufficient fuel to operate its pumping stations.”
The union body has since posited that should reality be borne out, “We could see several villages being flooded, should the rainy season persist.”
GAWU said, too, “We have learnt that the Corporation is seeking the assistance of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) to avert such disaster.”
The workers’ representative union has since articulated in its public statement that GAWU, “like GuySuCo, is hopeful that this matter could be addressed soonest, and the worse could be averted.”
According to GAWU, “We remain most concerned about the heartless treatment of the sugar industry by the now de-facto Administration.”
The workers’ body is adamant that “thousands of lives hang in the balance and the need for urgent intervention is needed” and that “such assistance is denied, arising from the naked attempts to thwart the will of the people and prevent the installation of a legitimate Government.”
Only recently, the union, in lambasting the administration’s economic machinations at the Ministry of Finance juxtaposed with the affairs at GuySuCo, had called on the caretaker President to account for the more than $330 million spent daily by the Government in recent months; a situation that has since depleted the national reserves.
The union’s position had come a day after the Ministry of Finance reported that Guyana’s national treasury is presently “incapable of providing a bailout” to the Corporation, and the Corporation should seek to work out its bottlenecks, since any monies due from the sale of sugar lands still would not be for the industry directly, but rather to make repayments for a bond that was secured.
It was reported that during an eight-month period between July 2018 and February 2020, $9.7 billion was disbursed to GuySuCo to fund its Capital and Operational Expenditure – much of which was outside the terms of the bond.
The Ministry said too that additionally, NICIL, through the Special Purpose Unit (SPU), had sold lands that were vested to it, and garnered deposits of $2.1 billion. This money, howev
er, was used to offset bond payments that became due in May 2020, the Ministry said, adding that the balance of $1.5 billion for the lands will be paid over to NICIL when the vesting orders are signed and gazetted.
The balance, however, is not expected to make its way to the Corporation in its entirety, since according to the Ministry, part of this sum will go towards a bond repayment which is due on July 4, and the remainder to GuySuCo.
It was noted too that another disbursement is expected in the coming days; and as such, the Government had urged “that NICIL, GuySuCo and the syndicated lenders work assiduously to resolve any bottlenecks”.
12 NEWS FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
Early-morning fire leaves 81-year-old homeless
Owner of the house, Dhaniram Haricharran
An 81-year-old pensioner is now homeless after a fire of unknown origin completely destroyed his Kingston, Georgetown home in the wee hours of Thursday.
According to reports, smoke was seen emanating from the Lot 33 Barrack Street, Kingston property some time after 07:30h and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was summoned.
Three tenders were deployed to the scene and managed to contain the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby buildings.
The two-storey wooden and concrete building – situated at the back of a business establishment – was gutted. The outer structure remained intact while the interior turned to ashes.
At the scene, after the fire erupted, the owner of the house, Dhaniram Haricharran explained that he worked as a gardener and would return home around 10:30h.
That morning, it was no different and his routine played out as per normal, but this time when he returned home, he was left in a state of disbelief after seeing his house in flames.
The pensioner, who remained composed throughout the entire incident, stated that upon seeing the fire tenders on site, he realised that the building was burning.
While standing among the ruins and debris, Haricharran explained, “I left home at about 06:30h to go to work and I normally come back at 10:30. But only when I reach here, almost at the entrance of the place, then I see the fire reel and hose working and so on. Now, I know the place burn down.”
Since no one was at home, nothing could be saved. The elderly man estimated his losses to be about $20 million. Haricharran said he would be moving in with a son who resides on the West Coast of Demerara while contemplating his next move.
The pensioner noted, “I’m alright.”
Meanwhile, Divisional Officer with responsibility for Administration, Gregory Wickham told media operatives that three tenders responded to the scene after they received reports of a fire. Efforts were made by firefighters to prevent the flames from spreading.
“We received a call of a building on fire. The first ap
The ruins of the house after the inferno was extinguished on Thursday morning
pliance (fire tender) reaching the scene sent a message that the building was well alight, so we increased to three pumps to lend support. By virtue of those appliances coming on the scene and lending support to the
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) on Thursday has issued a wanted bulletin for 25-yearold Elroy Oral Bristol for questioning in relation to possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Based on a release from the Police, the drug bust took place on Tuesday, June 23 at Patrick’s Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice – the wanted man’s neighbourhood.
Anyone with information first appliance, we were able to bring the fire under control and eventually, extinguished it,” the GFS Officer explained.
According to him, initial information suggests that the fire started on the lower that may lead to the arrest of Bristol is asked to contact the Police on telephone numbers 333-2151, 333-5564, 226-7065, 911 or at the nearest Police Station.
Police said that all information received would be treated with the strictest confidentiality.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a boat captain who was arrested with over 103 kilograms of ganja in his boat managed to escape law enforcement officers by plunging overboard and swimming to shore.
It was reported that ranks of the GPF were conducting a river patrol in the Canje Creek when they inflat and later spread to the second storey.
“Our investigative team here on the ground will be carrying out their investigation to bring us to the conclusion to know exactly the cause of the fire. And upon completion of that, the Chief Fire Officer will be releasing information,” Wickham disclosed.
It was indicated that while there was sufficient water to bring the situation under control, the GFS’s work was somewhat hindered by the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) after the electricity supply did not cut off in time. Wickham highlighted, “There are fire hydrants that are operable, but our tank’s supply of water initially able to bring the fire under control. The firefighters’ work was impeded a bit
GFS Divisional Officer Gregory Wickham
by GPL, because we still had current flowing in the mains and so we had to be calling back and forth.” (Rupa
Police issue wanted bulletin for Berbice man following drug bust
Seenaraine)
Elroy Oral Bristol
tercepted the wooden vessel in the vicinity of Sandaka.
A search of the boat revealed nine taped and compressed parcels, each containing suspected cannabis. Four men, including the Captain, were arrested.
While being escorted to New Amsterdam in the GPF’s boat, which was powered by a 60-horsepower outboard engine, the Captain held onto one of the ranks and plunged overboard with him.
The Policeman was quickly rescued, but the suspect swam ashore and escaped. The other three suspects remain in custody and are being processed for court.
CCJ ruling can bring a clear resolution to Guyana’s electoral impasse – Carter Center
Director of the Center’s Democracy Programme, Dr David Carroll
Ajudgement handed down by the Caribbean Court of Justice – Guyana’s final legal recourse – can possibly bring an end to the current electoral crisis facing the nation, says the Carter Center.
Director of the Center’s Democracy Programme, Dr David Carroll, during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times, explained that the existing political climate in the country is not healthy, and an immediate resolution is needed.
Just when the country thought the process would come to an end with the declaration of the elections results last week, the APNU/ AFC Coalition approached the Court of Appeal seeking a number of reliefs. As a consequence, the work of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was put on hold.
And following the Appeal Court’s ruling on Monday, the PPP/C approached the CCJ to challenge that judgment, claiming that it “plunged the law in total confusion”.
With a full hearing of that party’s appeal set for July 1, Dr Carroll is hoping that the subsequent ruling would ultimately bring an end to this unprecedented prolonged electoral process. “The ability to turn to legal options to try to address the disputes was anticipated; and ultimately, a ruling by the CCJ, we can hope as it did in the No-Confidence Motion (case) and previous important cases, can bring a final resolution to the question,” the Carter Center rep stated.
“And if it takes another short amount of time, what’s important is that there is a clear resolution that has a credible basis to it,” he added.
According to Dr Carroll, the current situation is not healthy, more particularly for a government that fell to a No-Confidence Motion more than one year ago to re
main in executive office.
“The elections process on a whole has not been healthy for Guyana,” he expressed.
Asked specifically about the fact that the APNU/AFC Coalition has grasped onto power since December 2018, Dr Carroll said, “I don’t think any of this has been healthy for Guyana. I really don’t.”
The Carter Center rep noted that “the best that can happen now is that there is as quick as possible resolution that is founded on credible results and credible legal basis, and we can move toward the next phase.”
The next phase, he reasoned, is to address the flaws of the electoral and entire governance system in the country.
“Elections in Guyana are broken, and there is a real serious need to address the flaws of the elections’ legal framework in Guyana, and reforms are seriously needed to the electoral system in Guyana and frankly to the broader system of governance in the country,” Dr Carroll explained.
He added that “the winner takes all system is the problem”, as he alluded to the need for an inclusive governance approach.
Inclusive Governance
Guyanese went to the polls on March 2 to exercise their franchise; but now, some three months later, results are yet to be declared.
The issues were started in the tabulation center for Region Four (Demerara Mahaica) – the country’s largest electoral district – where Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo began tabulating numbers which were different from the figures on the official documents, the Statements of Poll (SOPs).
He then proceeded to make a declaration based on those fraudulent numbers, and the APNU/AFC Coalition open-handedly accepted those results despite objections from every other stakeholder, including the Carter Center.
A second attempt by Mingo to declare the results using fraudulent numbers was also supported by the APNU/AFC.
Eventually, a recount exercise initiated by caretaker President David Granger and agreed upon by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was set to commence under the supervision of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
But despite agreeing to the recount exercise, Granger’s coalition party, through a supporter, approached the courts to stop the activity from happening.
After another legal battle, the recount exercise began, and Granger, who described CARICOM as the
most important interlocutors in the process, had agreed to accept the recount results.
The recount results clearly show that the PPP/C won the elections, but now Granger’s party is refusing to accept those results.
Asked if a shared governance approach with a party that has consistently demonstrated its intent to disregard the rules is likely, Dr Carroll said, “I think they have to commit, if they are really interested in all Guyanese…”
He explained that commitment is needed, not just from the political leaders, but from civil society and regular Guyanese citizens.
“(Guyana’s) deeply polarised society and political system will really hold it back from what could be an extremely successful and bright future,” the Carter Center rep reasoned.
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) INFORMATION AND GUIDELINES HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF?
SYMPTOMS People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms or combinations of symptoms may have COVID-19:
Cough Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing Or at least two of these symptoms:
People who think they may be affected by coronavirus need to call the Public Health Ministry hotline 227-4986/624-3067 for further advice. They should not go to their GP, A&E, pharmacy or hospital.
If you have come into contact with somebody who may be infected, you may be told to self-isolate. People needing to do so should take "common-sense" steps to avoid close contact with other people. (Adapted from BBC News)
Fever
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills Muscle pain
Children have similar symptoms to adults and generally have mild illness.
14 NEWS FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020 | GUYANATIMESGY.COM
CCJ offers parties in Guyana pathway to rule of law
By Sir Ronald Sander
There have been unhelpful and destructive attacks by leading members and zealous supporters of the APNUAFC caretaker government in Guyana against all with whose position they disagree. The targets are international organisations, CARICOM heads of government, other governments that have been major partners with Guyana and their diplomatic representatives.
All these institutions, governments and their representatives have urged that the political parties in Guyana accept an undertaking they solemnly gave. That undertaking was to accept a national recount of the votes cast at the March 2 general elections as the basis for the elections result.
Apart from its paid lobbyist in Washington, DC, Bart Fisher, who succeeded in printing an opinion in the obscure publication Washington Examiner, research has not revealed any credible supporters of the belligerent stand that APNU-AFC has adopted of rejecting the National Recount, which President David Granger helped to initiate and to which he said he would be bound.
The APNU-AFC stand is unfortunate. The party, or at least its two main components, the Peoples National Congress and the Working Peoples Alliance, have legitimate places in the political life of Guyana. These are places that should be preserved, because every country needs political parties that offer ideas for good governance and hold themselves ready to form a government at the will of the people as expressed at the ballot box. These parties also need the recognition of the Caribbean and international communities that they are democratic entities, prepared to advance their ideas vigorously, and ready to accept the judgement of the electorate.
They squander the respect and the encouragement of the regional and international communities when they resort to slurs and calumny against heads of government and institutions as the only defence for refusing to accept a transparent and fully supervised recount that does not suit them.
The recent assaults on Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, as Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), is loathsome. Mottley carried out her duty to member states of CARICOM, including the nation of Guyana, and to the Charter of Civil Society of which Guyana is a signatory. She expressed “sadness” over events in Guyana that have caused the result of an
Sir Ronald Sanders, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the OAS
election, held on March 2, not to be declared more than three months later, and she repeated that the report of the CARICOM scrutineers “reflects the result of the recount process as certified by the very staff of the Guyana Elections Commission and witnessed by representatives of political parties”.
Nothing Prime Minister Mottley said was untrue. Therefore, it is distressing that President Granger was encouraged to say that her statement “appears to be designed to exert undue pressure on the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)”. To impute to Prime Minister Mottley such a disreputable motive is unacceptable and unjust.
The CCJ has been brought into this matter as Guyana’s final appellate Court. The opposition Peoples Progressive Party (PPC/C) and others are appealing a decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal which ordered an interpretation of the words ‘more valid votes are cast’ and a stay of its decision for three days. The applicants claim that the decision was wrong for many reasons, including that the Court of Appeal did not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the Notice of Motion. The APNU-AFC has been adamant that the CCJ has no jurisdiction to hear the case, claiming that the Guyana Court of Appeal’s decision is final.
Granger, in addressing the newly minted officers, reminded that the Commission is unique in that it is an official certificate issued only by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Addressing the ranks, Granger said the instrument “appoints a person to high office, conferring on him (or her) the authority to exercise the functions of command in the GDF.” He said, “The Commission distinguishes the officer from the non-commissioned officer and the private soldier”.
According to Granger, “The State Commission and Instrument of Commission are not merely certificates to mark the successful completion of a training course”, since they constitute the lawful licences to exercise authority as military officers.
Not content with making legal arguments to the CCJ to establish their case, zealots of the APNU-AFC turned to broadening their attacks to include the President of the CCJ, Adrian Saunders. In a webpage constructed for political propaganda with an undisclosed writer, they claim that St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, the longest-serving head of government in the region, who led his country to election to a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council, is biased against them, and that Justice Saunders will be influenced by his friendship with Gonsalves to rule against the APNU-AFC surrogate in the case.
The attack on Justice Saunders is reprehensible as it is baseless. In the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Saunders twice found against cases in which Gonsalves was the lead attorney. Further, Saunders’ judicial independence is recognised internationally, including by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, on whose advisory board he serves. Justice Saunders will also be accompanied in the hearing by at least five other distinguished judges whose reputations are equally untainted.
Fortunately, those who were convinced that the judges of the Guyana Court
Prefacing his charge that the officers abide by their oath of office, Granger iterated that “the State Commission demands trust, loyalty and good conduct on the officer’s part. It requires the exercise of diligence, discipline, and dedication in the discharge of his duties.”
According to the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Presidential Candidate in the still-tobe- concluded General and Regional Elections, the instruments require an officer to “demonstrate obedience to his superiors, to demand compliance from his subordinates, and extend cooperation with his compeers.”
The GDF’s de-facto Commander in Chief, in his address, challenged the officers to uphold the oath which they have sworn, that “I…will bear true faith and allegiance to the state of Appeal were compromised by familial and other links did not similarly indulge in casting aspersions on their judicial integrity.
Luis Almagro, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States, summed up this sorry tale when he declared: “It is undeniable that this election has gone on long enough. The process in Guyana must be brought to an end, based on the results of the national recount, and with respect for the will of the majority of the electorate”.
The justices of the CCJ offer that conclusive opportunity. They held a lengthy case management session on June 25, with all the parties concerned except the chief elections officer, Keith Lowenfield, who discarded the CARICOM report of the recount and invalidated more than 115,000 votes. He chose not to make a submission or be represented by counsel, and therefore not to be questioned by the court when the case is heard. They will begin hearings, after written submissions, on July 1.
The CCJ hearing and eventual decision will give the parties in Guyana a chance to adhere to the rule of law, behave lawfully, and salvage their own and the country’s standing. They
Granger demands ‘loyalty’ as GDF Commander-in-Chief
Caretaker President Guyana. David Granger on This, according to Thursday demandGranger, Commander in ed loyalty and obedience to Chief of the Armed Forces. superiors in the hierarchy of He was at the time prethe Guyana Defence Force in senting Instruments of the execution of their duties Commission to newly comand to, among other things, missioned officers from the support and defend the state GDF’s Standard Officers’ against all enemies whomCourse No. 51 for 2020 at soever in upholding the prethe Colonel Ulric Pilgrim serve of the Constitution of Officer Cadet School.
The 25 Ensigns who were each promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant
should take it. of Guyana; that I will support and defend the state against all enemies whomsoever; that I will faithfully discharge the functions of an officer in the Guyana Defence Force without fear or favour, affection or illwill, and that in the discharge of those functions, I will honour, uphold and preserve the Constitution of Guyana.”
According to Granger, “I challenge you to uphold the Force’s five core values – duty, discipline, identity, integrity and loyalty”
The de-facto Army Commander, in concluding his remarks, “required” of the newly commissioned officers conduct in consonance with the GDF school’s ideological training: of loyalty to superiors and state, in addition to “discipline and steadfastness”, among other maxims.
