…Chief Co-Op Officer intervenes, seeking to resolve issues
Following requests from the former executives of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) for his intervention over electoral irregularities, Chief Co-Op Officer Janaknauth Panchu has blocked the new executives from taking office until those irregularities are cleared up.
Panchu has dispatched a letter, dated March 4, 2024, to Chairman of the Special General Meeting of the GPSCCU, Patrick Mentore, in which he requested that certain documents pertaining to last Saturday’s disputed elections be provided.
In his letter, Panchu requested a list of persons who attended and voted at the Special General Meeting, including those who attended in person and virtually. Panchu also requested confirmation that the credit union indeed has 25,385 members.
According to Panchu, his request is due to concerns raised that the election was not convened in keeping with previous court orders made by Justice Navindra Singh.
“The following has been alleged. At 10:50am, you announced to the gathering that a quorum had been established without stating the number of persons in the meeting, both online and in person. At 11:00am, IT Service Provider rep Andre Samuel told persons who enquired that there were 513 online attendees.”
According to Panchu, the former management committee of the GPSCCU also alleged that on election day, “both online and physical attendance was 1,907” and that “approximately 1,900 members voted.”
In his letter, which was copied to Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas-Meerabux, and Solicitor General Nigel Hawke, Panchu made it clear that failure to comply with his directives would see the new executives being unable to assume management of the credit union or transact any business on its behalf.
“Please note that regulations 17 and 21 of the Co-operative Societies Act, Chapter 88:01, clearly state how a quorum is determined for a special general meeting, and how a committee of management can be replaced. Please provide the information requested above and any other information to show that the said two regulations were complied with,” Panchu further wrote.
Chaos
On Monday, an attempt by the newly elected management of the GPSCCU to convene a meeting quickly descended into chaos, as one faction, led by former GPSCCU Chairman Karen VanSluytman-Corbin, disrupted the meeting over claims of electoral breaches.
In a video seen by this publication, Van Sluytman-Corbin and some of her colleagues from the former management committee could be heard banging on the table and chanting, “You all ain’t had a quorum! No valid elections!” and, “Get out! Get out!” against the newly elected management committee, which is led by former Chairman Trevor Benn.
When the elections were held on Saturday, resulting in Benn’s slate being elected, concerns had been raised about electoral breaches. In fact, Van Sluytman-Corbin herself had objected during the very vote. Those concerns have, however, gone unaddressed up to the time when Monday’s meeting was called. This has prompted the former committee to seek the intervention of the Labour Ministry.
In an interview with this publication on Monday, Labour Minister Hamilton explained that the former management committee wrote a letter to the Labour Ministry, specifically the Chief Co-Op Development Officer, claiming that the newly-voted-in management committee benefitted from breaches to the Co-Op laws by the manner in which the special meeting to hold the vote was convened.
“The (former) committee who was there, they have written the Chief Co-Op Development Officer based on several allegations they have made about breaches of the Co-Op laws in calling the meeting, specifically the Co-Op. So, the Chief Co-Op Development Officer is studying the letter,” Hamilton explained.
The alleged breaches do not stop there. According to Hamilton, the former management committee also alleged that there were breaches during the actual vote, as well as breaches in the systems set up to accommodate said votes.
“The rules talk about what the quorum must be. In this case, the quorum must be 6000 and odd members present, online and in person. Everything I saw about the voting, the maximum number of persons engaged at any time was, I think 1900 persons. So, at no time did they reach the threshold of what the quorum must be,” Hamilton had also said.
Another issue, which the minister noted was raised in the letter, was the fact that polling stations were not set up in all the other regions where membership was located to cater for those without internet access. (G3)
