Attempt to rig elections
…to appear in court on Monday
The Guyana Police Force has instituted four charges of misconduct in office against embattled Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, in relation to attempts to rig the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo sitting at the CID Headquarters (James Bond Facebook Photo)
Mingo and several other election officials were taken into custody over the past week as Police investigate allegations of electoral fraud. He is accused of attempting to alter the results of the election in favour of the APNU/AFC coalition by using concocted figures during the tabulation of votes for Region Four – the country’s largest voting district.
Guyana Times was told on Saturday that Mingo will be arraigned before the court on Monday, August 31, 2020, on these four charges.
However, Police sources say additional charges are also likely to be filed against him soon.
Only Friday, investigators secured a 24-hour extension from the High Court to keep the embattled RO, who was arrested on Tuesday, in custody. He was scheduled to be released at 14:30h on Saturday.
But according to Police sources, with the charges now instituted, he will remain in custody until his court appearance on Monday.
However, his lawyers had attempted to secure a court order for him to be released. In fact, Attorneys Roysdale Forde and Darren Wade on Saturday filed a Habeas Corpus application.
The matter was heard by acting Chief Justice, Rishi Persaud, on Saturday afternoon. It was a virtual hearing.
In a statement from the Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s office, it was noted that during the hearing, Justice Persaud pointed out that the Extension Order he granted on Friday was “spent” the moment the four charges were read to Mingo by the police. The acting Chief Justice noted that it is now within the realm of the Magistrates’ Courts to deal with the matter.
Meanwhile, AG Nandlall had argued that the Habeas Corpus application was misconceived and it was wasting the court’s time and effort. The Attorney General lamented that attorneys-at-law must advise themselves on the law and the facts before activating the court’s process.
In the end, Justice Persaud dismissed the application filed to have Mingo released from Police custody.
Since Mingo’s arrest on Tuesday, at least four other GECOM employees have also been taken into custody to assist with the investigation. These include Carolyn Duncan, Sheffern February and Michelle Miller – all registration officers as well as IT technician Enrique Livan.
With the exception of Duncan, the other three GECOM staff remain in custody as of Saturday.
Meanwhile, the police during their investigation have called in several People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) officials to give statements on the events that unfolded following the March 2 polls.
On Friday, a confrontation was held between Mingo, who Police sources said has not been “fully” cooperating, and PPP/C’s Counting Agent Charles Ramson Jr.
Back in March, Ramson Jr had filed private criminal charges against Mingo and Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party of the APNU fraction of the coalition – Volda Lawrence, in relation to the unverified declaration of results for Region Four.
The declaration made by Mingo, which was subsequently set aside by Chief Justice Roxane George, was signed by Lawrence – the lone representation of the political parties that contested the elections. The other parties had objected to the declaration after the verification process was not fully complied to by the RO. Even the election observation missions, local and international, had also rejected the declaration, saying that the results lacked credibility and transparency.
Nevertheless, also on Friday, PPP/C’s agents Sasenarine Singh and Sonia Parag were called in by investigators to give their statements in the matter.
Singh told Guyana Times that he had confrontations with both Mingo and February. He was the only the PPP/C agent who observed the actual attempts to rig the elections.
Singh told the police that during the tabulation process, Miller (GECOM registration officer) was calling out numbers from purported Statements of Poll but the figures for the APNU/AFC and PPP/C did not match those on the carbon copy of the SoPs that the party was given at various Polling Stations. He said the officer was “inflating the APNU/AFC numbers and reducing the PPP/C numbers.” This was at the Office of the Region Four RO, located in Ashmins building, High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.
He also recalled in his statement to the police, similar attempts on March 13 at the GECOM Headquarters in Kingston, Georgetown, where around midnight RO Mingo had made the controversial declaration.
In fact, Mingo and Lawrence were charged for forging official electoral documents in an effort to defraud the country.
While Lawrence was arraigned and placed $100,000 bail by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennon last Monday, Mingo did not make a court appearance as he was never served with the private criminal charges filed against them. (G8)
