GECOM Chair says will not interfere in work of Police; Harmon claims she is complicit

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (retired) Claudette Singh on Friday refuted reports that she has provided information to the Police about several senior staff members of GECOM currently being investigated for their alleged participation in electoral fraud linked to the March 02 2020 elections.

In a statement, the GECOM Chair said she has only facilitated a request by the Police for the job descriptions of several staff members, information that is already in the public domain.

“I instructed the Human Resources Manager to provide Job Descriptions only. As Chairperson of GECOM and a former Police Legal Advisor, I do not have the authority to interfere into the work of the Guyana Police Force nor any other Statutory Body,” the statement from the Chair said.

The Chair issued the statement following comments by Desmond Trotman, APNU nominated Commissioner of GECOM, where he claimed that Singh has been “facilitating the handing over of information and the persecution of members of staff without showing any willingness to take some line of action.”

Trotman made these comments to reporters Friday morning after Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers was charged with two counts of misconduct in public office.

Singh, in the response, made it clear that she will always ensure that the best interest of the members of staff of GECOM are protected.

“It is regrettable that Commissioner Trotman will publicly admonish work of the Commission especially in light of the fact that he was present and a party to these discussions,” she added.

But the GECOM Chair also came up against criticism from Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Friday.

Harmon said the arrest of several senior employees of GECOM and their placement before the Courts on charges related to electoral fraud amount to harassment by the Guyana Police Force.

Harmon also believes that the silence on these arrests and cooperation with the police by GECOM Chairman makes her complicit in these matters.

“All senior officers arrested and harassed are of one ethnic group… and to remain silent is to be complicit by the actions of the Police,” Harmon said during his weekly press briefing.

“No wonder the Chairman has not raised her voice in the welfare of these officers who work under her. The Chairman is complicit with respect to the dismantling of GECOM by the Police under the instructions of the PPP government,” he added.

Harmon said Chairman Singh is leaving a tattered legacy and called on her must do something before it gets worse.

“I am calling on her again that these things do a blot on your legacy and it is challenging your legacy as a Chairman of the Elections Commission and I am saying to prevent a further tattering of her imagine she needs to do something to ensure that doesn’t happen,” he added.