Lackadaisical attitude of some GECOM staff

Dear Editor,
The swiftly approaching March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections will certainly herald a new and caring Government to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. So said hundreds of thousands of Guyanese voters and supporters of the dynamic and purposeful People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). Judgment day is right ahead and after the extensive trials and tribulations at the hands of the Granger Administration, GECOM must now prove worthiness to deliver free and fair elections as the world watches.
The feedback from observers and key stakeholders highlights a steely determination among a majority of the silent and patient voting population to clinically overwhelm and sever all ties with the frantic, desperate and clearly derailed APNU/AFC coalition performers. Citizens have felt the pain and hostility of this brutal regime, seen their children hungry and many, including our youths, jobless. This time around, most citizens have not forgotten and for those who seem misguided, the PPP/C has candidly reminded and presented a message of hope.
Despite the legitimately passed No-Confidence Motion that ousted this Granger-led cabal, they have dictatorially persisted while breaching numerous constitutional obligations, to illegally maintain power by almost twelve wasted months. They now arm themselves with camouflaged cloaks and bags of deceitful tricks, in another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the Guyanese people. It is clear that after four years of demonstrated incompetence, the brutish vendetta like persecution of thousands of Guyanese and the economic rape of the treasury, another false horizon is central to their act.
There is no doubt that when one looks at the political parties contesting these elections, the tale of the tape is indeed a revelation comparatively. For the first time in several decades, thirteen political parties have submitted lists of Candidates on Nominations day signalling intent at participation. This indeed stands as testimony to the level of widespread dissatisfaction of the wider population with the APNU/AFC’s horrible governance approaches over the past-truncated period of Office. Yet, in the current Granger-led list, there are no significant differences. The same group of ‘old’ visionless contesters, who have tormented this nation, forms the common denominator.
It is notable that in the smaller parties, there is an identifiable lack of applicable originality coupled with a significant lack of experience. Individually, the core of each new party constitutes a few ejected or discounted breakaways from the previous pillar parties. Observably, they have already begun to fold and generally, have opted to join each other with the hope of winning one balance of power parliamentary seat.
The PPP/C, however, stands out in this challenge as the most successful party in the history of Guyana. The party’s credentials have been tried and tested, supported by a proven record of accomplishment, harnessed from decades of fighting for the advancement of every person across our country. The PPP/C List of Candidates presents an admirable blend of youth and experience to implement their plans and programmes in an inclusive way. There is diversity, along with strong unity and the total togetherness, which sends a potent vibration full of passion and aggression to win and make Guyana a better place for all Guyanese.
The PPP/C’s manifesto represents a themed and vision-driven approach that is certainly most encouraging. Its preparation advanced based on broad-based national consultation with hundreds of well-grounded men and women of substance, at a full day’s discussion on the way forward for Guyana. Comparatively, the APNU is in the wilderness and the nation is fully aware of the visionless approach, disunity and serious divisions in their camp.
The PPP/C was in full readiness for the various Regional and National Elections and overwhelmingly, for the passing of the No-Confidence Motion. The APNU/AFC on the other hand, are always dogging and trying to delay Elections. The massive support at the PPP/C rallies and meetings are certainly inspiring and a strong signal that the PPP/C will win comfortably. The big question is how prepared is GECOM for the Elections?
One recalls that GECOM along with the APNU Commissioners, particularly Vincent Alexander, made a lot of noise about removing the names of persons who did not collect their ID cards, from the Register of Registrants. After several months GECOM claimed that they registered 370,000 persons in the truncated House-to-House Registration and after the Claims and Objection were completed, GECOM is still to produce a single ID card.
Thousands of people are awaiting their ID cards. Millions of dollars were spent to do the truncated House-to-House Registrations and the Claims and Objections; yet, GECOM is not saying anything about the issuing of ID cards. I wish to reiterate that it was the cheap inkpads and cheap cameras that GECOM bought at very high prices, along with the employing of incompetent staff that is deliberately preventing the issuing of ID cards.
The incompetence of some hired staff at GECOM was revealed through their lackadaisical attitude and modus operandi in certain public activities whereby they seemed to be lacking in the manner in which they perform their functions. I hope that the international advisors to GECOM are going to give the relevant guidance to address the situation.

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar