Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, his Deputy Roxanne Myers and Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo had their contracts terminated on Thursday following the decision on motions filed against them before the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) over their handling of the 2020 general and regional elections.
The trio is accused of electoral fraud, committed last year during the elections.
The decision comes after more than a year of calls for the three senior functionaries at GECOM to be dismissed. In June this year, GECOM’s Chairman, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh took a decision to have them give up access to their offices and proceed on vacation leave until GECOM concludes its investigations on the allegations of electoral fraud.
Lowenfield on Monday last withdrew an Application he made in the High Court which challenged the motion to dismiss him.
Lowenfield is currently before the court with three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and three counts of Forgery; while Myers with two counts of Misconduct in Public Office.
Mingo is currently charged with four counts of Misconduct in Public Office, while People’s National Congress Chairperson, Volda Lawrence and Opposition activist, Carol Joseph are also before the court on electoral fraud charges.
The trio were again charged with two new charges to defraud electors in June 2021 and released on $100,000 bail.
They are accused of inflating the results of Region Four – Guyana’s largest voting district – to give the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition a majority win at the March 2, 2020, polls when in fact, the PPP/C had won by 15,000 more votes.
