Concrete evidence that Mingo committed electoral fraud

Dear Editor,
The Statements of Recount (SoRs) for ten boxes which confirm with the Statements of Poll (SoPs) show that Mingo added votes in favour of the APNU/AFC and deducted votes cast in favour of the PPP/C. In any world, including the one we live in, this is electoral fraud. The Commission and the citizens of Guyana do not have to wait until the end of the recount exercise to take action against Mingo.
It is my humble view, however, that the Commission will never take any action against Mingo. There is abundant evidence that the powers are sheltering Mingo at GECOM. All the persons above Mingo, including CEO, DCEO, some Commissioners, and Chairwoman, have said little and done absolutely nothing to penalise Mingo.
If they were against his actions, Mingo would have been investigated and probably placed before the court for electoral fraud by now. Instead, Mingo’s superiors have been promoting his declaration as lawful. The declaration made by Mingo is on GECOM’s website and the final report submitted by the CEO to the Commission. A motion was also tabled by Commissioners at GECOM to approve the CEO’s report with the fraudulent results. Even the order for the recount exercise makes provision for the fraudulent results to be considered.
As law-abiding citizens, we have to, therefore, take action, and we can do so using the Judicial Review Act 2010. For those who are not aware, the Judicial Review Act 2010 allows citizens to apply to the court for relief where the administrative act(s) or omission(s) by a public officer has caused the applicant(s) harm.
The grounds upon which the court may grant relief are set out in Section 5 of the Act and include, among other things, unreasonable, irregular or improper exercise of discretion, abuse of power, and fraud. Mingo’s actions and those of his superiors, fall into these categories of grounds for review.
Some of the remedies that we can apply for under Section 8 of the Judicial Review Act include the quashing of the unlawful act and restitution and damages in money. These are essential remedies given the economic losses we have all suffered due to the election impasse and the possibility that the fraudulent declaration can be considered at the end of the recount exercise as per the order. We should not take the risk of allowing the Commission to determine whether Mingo’s declaration should be considered or not.
As law-abiding citizens, we should approach the court to disallow GECOM from considering the declarations by Mingo. This Commission has so far abused its power and continues to do so at the nation’s expense.
The Commission has failed to deliver elections within the three months prescribed after the successful passage of a No-Confidence Motion. It has also failed to declare the results based on the timelines prescribed by the Constitution and did little to cause Guyanese to have confidence in its ability to be fair and decent.
We should take this opportunity to send a strong signal that no longer will we allow the officials at GECOM to abuse their powers. There is a piece of legislation that we can utilise to bring the officials at GECOM in line. All that is needed is a patriotic lawyer to help civic-minded Guyanese to make an application for judicial review by the court. I am ready to participate. Which lawyer is willing to help?

Sincerely,
S Pasha