Dept of Co-Ops steps in to protect GPSCCU members against unilateral actions

– applicant in court case cries foul, claims old CoM continues to influence, hinder work of new management

The fight over the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) continues. Just weeks after the court ruled that new management should oversee the running of the union, the Department of Co-Operative Societies (COOP) of the Ministry of Labour has had to step in to prevent unilateral actions from court-appointed management.
The COOP released a statement on Friday in which it announced its intervention in the management of the GPSCCU, through the election of three new interim positions on the management committee to ensure protection for members’ interests.

“The act is in compliance with Co-operative Societies Act, Chapter 88:01 and the court order in Action No 2022-HC-DEM-CIV-FDA-797 which occurred at a meeting held at the Ministry of Labour’s boardroom in the presence of Suresh Jaigobin, Assistant Chief Cooperative Development Officer, Ministry of Labour’s legal officers, and GPSCCU League representatives of and GPSCCU’s Management Committee members,” the department said.
Jaigobin has emphasised that they are not trying to thwart the court order but rather, to address the concerns of other members of management and credit union staff. It was claimed that the court-appointed committee has been making decisions without consulting other members.
“As the supervisory authority, the department decided to take control of the issues in accordance with the Co-operative Societies Act and the court ruling,” he explained.
According to the Ministry, the court order did not specify which offices Patrick Mentore, Rajdai Jaggarnath, and Trevor Benn would hold. As a result, two principal positions, Chairman and Secretary, were to be filled, with the remaining position being that of a committee member.
“The position of the Chairman of the Committee was filled in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Co-operative Societies Act. The position of the Secretary of the Committee was appointed in compliance with Regulation 47 of the Co-operative Societies Act.”
“Ms. Jaggernauth was the Treasurer of the Committee and was now elected to act as the Interim Chairman, hence the position of the Treasurer became vacate and was filled in accordance with Regulation 53 of the Co-operative Societies Act.
It was explained that in accordance to the court order, Jaggernauth has been appointed in the position of Chairman, Mentore as Secretary, and Benn as Committee member. It was further explained that Members of the Committee agreed with the decision of the Interim positions appointed at the end of the meeting.”

Special meeting
Meanwhile, in a statement to the media Mehalai McAlmont, one of the applicants in the very case ruled on by Justice Navendra Singh on July 25, 2023, claimed that elements within the GPSCCU continue to not comply with court rulings.
According to him, these officials did not comply with the September 30, 2022 ruling of Justice Singh that an SGM must be held by October 24, 2022. And despite being taken to court for contempt, he claimed that they are again trying to not comply with Justice Singh’s latest ruling.
He laid a hefty portion of the blame at the feet of the Chief Cooperative Development Officer (CCDO) – one of his claims being that attempts were made to obstruct and even remove certain court-appointed managers of the credit union, who include Mentore, Jaggernauth, and Benn.
McAlmont also claimed that members of the old Committee of Management (CoM), who were removed by Justice Singh’s orders, continue to attempt to influence the affairs of the GPSCCU and hinder the work of new management, even if it means further ignoring the court order and the wishes of over 2000 members of the Credit Union.
“Additionally, we were told that instructions were passed to retrieve all financial documents which are being audited in an effort to derail the audit that was ordered by the court-appointed persons. We are deeply saddened that the membership of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union will continue to suffer if this issue is not quickly resolved,” he also said.
Back in July 2022, McAlmont was an applicant in the case brought against the members of the Committee of Management (CoM) of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union Ltd (GPSCCUL), seeking to force them to hold a Special General Meeting (SGM) under certain conditions.
On September 30, 2022, Justice Navendra Singh had ruled on the side of the applicants and ordered that the SGM be held no later than October 24, 2022, under certain specific conditions, including the utilisation of the same mechanism used to conduct the GPSCCU’s 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
However, because the CoM did not comply with the September 30 ruling, contempt proceedings were brought against them. On July 25, 2023, more than nine months after Justice Singh made his first orders, the court sat to hear the contempt motion.
Stating that none of his orders were carried out by the CoM, the Judge ordered that the Committee members be removed from their position and not be allowed to conduct any business on behalf of the credit union. The Judge had further ordered that Patrick Mentore, Rajdai Jaggernauth, and Trevor Benn be appointed to manage the affairs of the credit union. (G-3)