Prosecution to present 80 witnesses, 140 statements as electoral fraud cases get underway

– pushes to have cases consolidated

– as defence attorney threatens legal action over delays

As the election fraud cases got underway before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani revealed that some 80 witnesses and 140 statements are expected to be presented to the court.
Among those who have been charged are former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees and sitting People’s National Congress (PNC) Member of Parliament (MP) Volda Lawrence; Former GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and former Region 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.
Lowenfield was charged with three counts of misconduct in public office, three counts of forgery, and two counts of conspiracy to defraud. Meanwhile, Mingo was charged with four counts of misconduct in public office. He was further charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of forgery.
MP Lawrence, PNC member Carol Smith-Joseph and former GECOM employees Roxanne Myers, Enrique Livan and Michelle Miller were among those who were also charged with various offences.

In Lawrence’s case, she was charged in conjunction with Mingo for forgery. Smith-Joseph was also charged in conjunction with Mingo for the same crime. Both Lawrence and Smith-Joseph also faced individual charges of their own.
When the matter was called, Special Prosecutor and King’s Counsel Ramdhani requested that the cases be consolidated while pointing out that with as many as 80 witnesses and 140 statements, as well as video evidence, consolidating the cases will save precious time.
He also sought the intervention of Senior Magistrate Daly, in petitioning the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Yonnette Cummings-Edwards, to have the matters assigned to a specific Magistrate.
Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes, who represents several of the accused, however, urged that the matters proceed as soon as possible considering the three-year-long wait.
Magistrate Daly then adjourned the case to October 25, at 13:00h. In an interview with the media, Hughes hinted that the defence may consider legal action over the delay in the cases.

“This was really a sophisticated attempt to have an adjournment… this is really an admission that he (Ramdhani) is not in a position to proceed. We invited (the court’s) attention to an article in the Chronicle saying that we are ready. And he’s not ready. So now the matter has been put down for another two weeks, for a report.”
“So, these defendants have been coming to court for in excess of three years, without the prosecution being able to start their case. And this, I believe, is an infringement on their right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. And we’ll be considering what avenues are available to them on that basis,” Hughes further said.
Meanwhile, Ramdhani explained what the prosecution was seeking to achieve by having the cases consolidated. He also noted that only the Chief Magistrate or the Chancellor of the Judiciary can determine which cases to prioritise.
And with previous requests to the Chief Magistrate not being met with a favourable response, Ramdhani’s next step is the Chancellor.
“It became apparent that many days would have to be set aside to try such a matter. It would take a considerable time because we have nine defendants and there would be a lot of cross-examination, which is a part of these matters. These are incidents of a fair trial. We had disclosed over 140 statements, we have close to 100 witnesses, we have tons of documentary evidence, we have a number of video evidence that has been disclosed to the other side.”
“I believe that the Magistrate has recognised that the proper course will be to have this particular issue determined as to whether the court will be put in a position where they have to deal with every criminal case that it has on its docket, or whether a court will be properly authorised to prioritise this case,” Ramdhani noted.
The cases all relate to attempts made to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections, during which time the country stood still for five months until the swearing-in of President Dr Irfaan Ali, which saw the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) come to power. Since 2020, the electoral fraud cases have continued.
Only back in February of this year, Attorney General Anil Nandlall had written the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, for an update on the electoral fraud cases after expressing his concerns over the long delays. This had followed similar concerns highlighted in August 2022. The Legal Affairs Minister had assured earlier this year that while the Government was insulated from the court process, it would not sit idly by and allow the charges to “just fall away”. (Jarryl Bryan)