After controversial court opinion: GECOM drops Legal Officer Kurt DaSilva; contract not renewed

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has decided to part ways with its Chief Legal Officer, Kurt DaSilva, opting not to renew his contract just over three years after he was first hired.
The decision comes a few weeks after the legal officer, who has a Master of Laws Degree in Public Law from the University of the West Indies (UWI) found himself in hot water over a legal opinion he proffered in a court case on the verification of the voters list.
That legal opinion had not been sanctioned by GECOM or Chief Election Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud, prompting Persaud in the days after DaSilva submitted his opinion to publicly distance himself from his legal officer.

According to information reaching this publication, GECOM Chairperson, (Ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, sided with the Government nominated GECOM Commissioners, in a vote on Tuesday on whether or not to renew DaSilva’s contract, which had recently expired. The opposition commissioners reportedly walked out of the meeting after the vote was taken.
It was further revealed that the Chairperson cited DaSilva’s legal opinion in his pleadings during the just concluded voter verification case as one of the reasons behind her decision. The decision was made even after DaSilva received an appraisal score of 98 per cent out of 100 for his work at GECOM.
The case in question, which was dismissed by acting Chief Justice Roxane George, was filed by A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph, challenging the voters list compiled by GECOM.
Smith-Joseph had taken GECOM to court, contending that the process used to compile the list violated the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, and deprived electors of the opportunity to object to names on the register of voters.
During the proceedings, DaSilva took a legal position that there should be a separate list of electors for both the Regional and General Elections, even going as far as to say that persons qualified to vote in the regional election may not necessarily be qualified to vote in the general one.

DaSilva’s position was subsequently denounced by the CEO, who made it clear that he never instructed his legal officer to make such a submission and that it could cause confusion. And the acting Chief Justice subsequently dismissed Smith-Joseph’s challenge as misconstrued.

Plethora of reasons
Meanwhile, Government nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj in a video broadcast, addressed the issue. He revealed that when the matter of renewing DaSilva’s contract came up before the commission at their statutory meeting, there were differing opinions from both sides of the commission. Ultimately, the Chairperson had the final say.

“In voting not to renew the contract, the Chairman provided a plethora of reasons. Some of which, touched on concerns the most recent matter of GECOM before the court, that is the application brought by Carol Smith-Joseph,” Gunraj said.
“What is also interesting is that this is not the first occasion on which a contract of a GECOM officer was not renewed. In fact, DaSilva’s predecessor, her contract was also not renewed,” Gunraj pointed out.
This is a reference to Attorney-at-Law Excellence Dazzell, who served as Chief Legal Officer from 2018 to 2021. According to Gunraj, there are also other examples of officers being sent home. With that in mind, he also exposed the hypocrisy of the opposition nominated members of the commission.
“For months, perhaps even longer than that, the very commissioners who are now championing the cause of the legal officer, have been complaining about his conduct. That conduct and those complaints are well documented in our minutes.”
“In fact, a lot of those complaints were referenced in the opposition commissioner’s own contributions. But in their view, perhaps for reasons best known for them, those complaints ought not to have formed the basis for non-renewal of his contract,” Gunraj also said.