Appoint the Local Govt Commission now

Dear Editor,
Commissions of inquiry have been the order of the day since the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Government was brought to power under the most appalling circumstances. There is no greater threat to Guyanese citizens or justifications for a seriously forensic examination than the duplicitous situation at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). The Commission should be instituted to address the continuously permitted and silently accepted glaring abnormalities within this organisation by the Granger-led Administration.
It cannot be that the APNU/AFC and the cohorts are unaware of the public issues common to GECOM such as: fake Statements of Poll, fake invoices, numerous cases of worrying breaches of procurement procedures, excesses and wanton spending, and the unwarranted payments to numerous phantom staffs which have all gone un-noticed in their transparency lens. Rather, it is more likely that the administrators of this most corrupt organisation are being left to do what they wish, in the establishment of a foundation for possible future manipulations, reminiscent of the Burnham era.
It is quite horrendous that some media commentators and supporters of ‘so-call’ transparency approach led by this Government have not identified with this key corner-stone. It would certainly be the mother of any considered extremism in the recent past, which certainly MUST be diminished. The daily rising of this monster has been visible through its autocratic behaviour, and the exercised levels of Machiavellianism on display by the administrators of GECOM. As a consequence of the recent audits, there is much more tangible validation of the numerous corrupt schemes under it operations.
Dr Steve Surujbally exited as Chairman after frauds on many fronts were discovered and exposed at GECOM. These disappointingly involved may of its principals at the highest levels. Of much concern is that these manipulations were designed and permitted by the Chairman; much with the exclusion of the appointed Commissioners who ought to have been involved at more meaningful levels. The result was the created the environment for the extreme lawlessness which took place.
It is recalled that on June 13, 2015, Chief Election Officer of GECOM, Keith Lowenfield announced to GECOM that he will not be able to declare the results of the 2015 Regional and National Elections because of the amount of false statement of polls. How could fake Statements of Poll not affect Elections as stated by Surujbally and how was this corrected independent of the main political parties? It seems at the whims and fancy of the Surujbally–Lowenfield combination. However, the riggers got their way and the APNU/AFC with a small majority less than one seat was able to be manipulated into office.
The Chief Elections Officer utilised quotations only days before the election and made a purchase of millions of dollars in outdated communications radios. The quotations were prepared with the full knowledge of officials at GECOM, and the senior officials in collusion, accepted the fake quotations for spin-offs. Suffice to know that the radios were never used.
The audit of the staff who was employed on Election Day is indeed a revelation as regard to the magnitude of the phantom element we are now aware of. More than twenty-five thousand persons were paid to work before, on and after Election Day.
A comparison of the total amounts of money spent on running elections in Guyana, confirms that Guyana is spending more money than Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica combined, although those countries have significantly higher populations. Money spent on training and preparing election staff is astronomical. Expenditure on transportation is un-believable; and as for monies spent on meals and snacks, the auditors are joking among themselves that GECOM staff is buying snacks for the entire Guyana.
The retaining of GECOM Chief Election Officer – Keith Lowenfield, Chief Accountant – Joseph Eastman and the Administrative Manager, Michelle Ward is the ultimate abomination. In some parts of the world, similar situations to that of Guyana at the time, suggest that the country would not have remained the same.
The discovered corruption forced the removal of Surujbally. He was forced to say that the Secretariat was responsible for all the purchasing and hiring of staff. However, the notorious Surujbally before he demitted office ensured a renewal the contract of Lowenfield to continue working at GECOM. We strongly represent that the staffing positions at GECOM must be revised in a very balanced way.
At the same time, President Granger is permitting the empowerment of these people by ensuring the continued headless situation at the Commission. While the President of Guyana seems to be buying time before he appoints the Chairman of GECOM, he must be assured that the people will speak and speak strongly.
Better times when our people must resist all forms of corruptions. All Guyanese must expose the blatant corruption wherever they are taking place.
We say appoint the Local Government Commission now!!

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar