Gov’t not involved in GECOM’s hiring process – Pres. Granger

President David Granger has made it clear that his Government has nothing to do with the hiring process at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

The Head of State was at the time commenting on the recent allegations made by Opposition nominated GECOM Commissioner, Robeson Benn that there was bias in the ethnic composition of the high-level staff at the GECOM Secretariat.

During an interview at the sidelines of an event on Wednesday, the President said: “the Elections Commission is an autonomous institution, the Executive branch of Government has nothing to do with the recruiting procedures.”

Mr Granger said he expects that the Commission is following “normal practice” in having persons who are “fit and proper” or qualified to fill positions at the Secretariat.

Benn had claimed that there were more Afro-Guyanese employed at GECOM than Indo-Guyanese. His claims led to the abrupt end of “an important” meeting between the commissioners and the Chairman, James Patterson on Tuesday.

Benn claimed in a statement, however, that he was interrupted from explaining his position and was not being recognized by the Chairman which forced him and the other two opposition nominated commissioners to walk out.

Later, Commissioners Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin, and Desmond Trotman defended the Chair’s decision to discontinue the meeting.

The Chairman challenged Benn to provide the statistics to support his conclusion but according to Commissioner Alexander, the Chair also countered the argument by providing stats which show differently.

A statement from the opposition nominated commissioners insisted that Benn had attempted to explain his position but was prevented by the Chair from doing so and the meeting was adjourned.