Hours of intense drama surrounded the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, where embattled former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo was charged with four counts of misconduct in public office.
Two other employees, Enrique Livan and Sheffern February, were also slapped with charges of electoral fraud.
Mingo appeared before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan and was represented by Attorneys-at-Law Nigel Hughes, Ronald Daniels and Darren Wade.
The charges read that on March 5 and 13, 2020, he willfully misconducted himself at High and Cowan Streets, Georgetown – while holding the position of Returning Officer – by declaring the District Four results without ascertaining the total votes cast in favour of each list by adding the recorded votes in accordance with the Statements of Poll.
By means, he attempted to alter the results of the March 2 elections in Guyana’s largest voting district in favour of the APNU/AFC – which was refusing to accept electoral defeat and has been accused of attempting to undermine the will of the people.
As such, the said wilful misconduct amounted to a breach of the public’s trust in his office without any reasonable excuse or justification. Bail was granted in the sum of $150,000 for each charge, which amounted to $600,000.
The State, which was represented by Tariq Mohammed, would have objected to bail given the gravity of the offence. He alluded to statements from the Head of the Office of American States Observer Mission, Bruce Golding who would have said that he had never seen such a “transparent effort to alter the results of an election”.
However, Mingo was asked to lodge his passport and will have to report to the Criminal Investigations Department at Eve Leary every Friday. The matter will continue on September 25.
After the matter concluded, Executives of the APNU/AFC coalition including David Granger, Joseph Harmon, Khemraj Ramjattan and David Patterson waited outside the courthouse to support Mingo; they would have also met with his wife. As he exited, coalition protesters broke the cordoned barricades and rushed over to the court in a crowded manner, defying the COVID-19 guidelines.
His attorney, Hughes, is still contending that his client is innocent.
Two Fridays ago, the Police Force announced that it was investigating alleged criminal conduct by Mingo and others, including Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, who is currently facing private criminal fraud charges before the courts.
The following Monday, Volda Lawrence, Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) – the leading party of the APNU faction of the coalition – was charged in relation to the unverified declaration of results for Region Four. Private charges were filed against her and Mingo by Charles Ramson Jr, accusing them of forging official electoral documents in an effort to defraud the country.
Enrique Livan
Last Tuesday, Mingo was arrested at a house at Mahaicony and taken to the CID Headquarters, where he was questioned in relation to electoral fraud. He remained in custody after the Guyana Police Force was granted an extension of time by the High Court to continue their investigation.
Other charges
Meanwhile, two other employees of the Guyana Elections Commission were also charged on Monday. Enrique Livan, who is an Information Technology Officer at the Secretariat, was charged with conspiracy to defraud.
The charge read that between March 4 and 5, he unlawfully altered the figures while the numbers from the Statements of Poll were being recorded, with intent to defraud the people of Guyana.
Livan was involved in the infamous flash drive incident at the GECOM command centre in the Ashmins building at the corner of High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.
Livan was previously questioned by Police on the evening of March 4, 2020, when the tabulation of votes for District Four at the Office of the Returning Officer was obstructed. Party agents and other observers became suspicious when Livan, after complaining of feeling tired and wanting to conclude the tabulation process, left the room with a flash drive and computer – both of which were being used during the tabulation process.
On the other hand, Sheffern February was also slapped with two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.
