GECOM likely to print ads for CEO, DCEO by next week

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), which has spent much of the year wrestling with the removal of top employees at the Secretariat, is likely to send out advertisements to fill critical vacancies by next week.

This is according to GECOM Commissioner Bibi Shadick, who revealed to this publication in an invited comment that while they have already drafted the advertisements, a statutory meeting on Tuesday to issue the print order had to be adjourned until Thursday because there was no quorum.

Shadick and her fellow Government-nominated Commissioners – Sase Gunraj and Manoj Narayan – were present during Tuesday’s meeting, chaired by GECOM Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh.

However, Shadick said, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander was absent from the meeting, and after technical difficulties, his colleague Charles Corbin logged off from the virtual meeting, leaving only Desmond Trotman present.

“We couldn’t even discuss the advertisements, because we did not have a quorum anymore. Trotman was there, and Trotman was hearing and was heard, but the quorum has to have two from their side,” she explained.

“So, what the Chairman in frustration was forced to do was adjourn it until Thursday at 1. Because if a meeting is adjourned because of a lack of a quorum, we can call the meeting for Thursday and make decisions as long as there are four people,” Shadick said.

According to Shadick, those four people can comprise the three-Government nominated GECOM Commissioners and the Chairperson herself. This would remove the necessity of relying on the Opposition-nominated Commissioners for a quorum.

The Commissioner was optimistic that after Thursday’s meeting, the process can move forward and advertisements for the vacant GECOM positions can be printed by next week in all the daily newspapers.

“Once we have made that decision, I doubt it (printing) could be this weekend. It would have to be next week some time. We have asked that they go in all the papers and on the website. Wide coverage. I’m very hopeful that the decision to send the advertisements off to print will be made Thursday,” she said.

The advertisements in question will fill the vacancies caused by the removals of former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, his former deputy Roxanne Myers and former Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo.

After several delays and legal proceedings, Lowenfield, Myers, and Mingo were on August 12 dismissed from their respective posts at the GECOM following a vote by the seven-member Commission.

In a statement announcing the terminations, which she said came after weeks of deliberation on the motions, the GECOM Chair had indicated that the services of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo would be terminated effective August 18, 2021, and they would be compensated in accordance with provisions in their contracts.

To this end, Justice Singh disclosed that CEO Lowenfield was dismissed via Clause 9 of his contract, which stipulates that his services can be terminated by giving him three months’ notice, or payment in lieu thereof.

Regarding the DCEO and the RO, their contracts similarly state that the Commission may, at any time, terminate their employment by giving them three months’ notice or payment in lieu thereof.

Gunraj and his fellow Government-nominated Commissioners, Bibi Shadick and Manoj Narayan, on June 1, 2021 had brought motions calling for the dismissal of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo from GECOM.

The trio are before the courts for a number of electoral charges for their alleged attempts to sway the results of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

Vacancy ads for top GECOM posts approved, to be published within days

By Editor On Sep 29, 2021, Source - https://newsroom.gy/2021/09/29...blished-within-days/

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is well on its way to finding a new Chief Elections Officer (CEO) and filling other top posts within the secretariat following Tuesday’s meeting where the final vacancy advertisements were approved.

People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj told the News Room Wednesday during a telephone interview that the vacancies are expected to be published within next week.

“One of the primary things we had to do was to settle those ads and finalise them because we had already started working on them…it is going to be on the website, the newspapers, social media, radio, the television etc.,” the Commissioner explained.

Tuesday’s meeting, according to Gunraj, went off without a hitch as there was “consensus” on both sides on the importance of having the position of the CEO and the deputy CEO filled.

Other key vacancies include the Chief Accountant, a Legal Officer, Research Officer and Logistics Manager; those vacancy advertisements have been approved as well.

Commissioner Bibi Shadick explained that from a total of seven vacancy ads to be published, two remain outstanding will be completed by the next meeting of the Commission.

“There are two more that we didn’t get to because one has to do with the position that someone got a contract without proper procedure and the other we have to redo because there are things that we want that person to do, so we have those two that we put off for next week but yesterday’s meeting we discussed nothing else,” she told the News Room during a telephone interview.

The hiring of the CEO had caused a rift between the seven-member Commission with the APNU+AFC nominated Commissioners suggesting that the hiring should be done externally and independent of any influence from the Commission.

But Gunraj held to the traditional hiring process and asserted that “the Commission knows best.”

And before anyone can be considered for the slots, they would have to go through a stringent vetting process.

The absence of the CEO and other key senior functionaries are already being felt with Shadick positing that there is a real possibility that the GECOM can grind to a halt.

Gunraj had contended too that the work of the GECOM was being “crippled”.

The absence of a CEO has forced GECOM to suspend the distribution of Identification Cards as the CEO’s signature is needed on them.

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is moving forward with advertising for a new Chief Election Officer (CEO), Deputy CEO and other key positions that are currently vacant within the commission.

Chairperson of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.

Kaieteur News understands that on Tuesday, Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, met with the elections Commissioners and agreed to advertise seven vacant posts.

These posts include: Office of the Chief Election Officer/Commissioner of Registration, Deputy Chief Election Officer/Deputy Commission of Registration, Assistant Chief Election Officer/Assistant Commissioner of Registration, Logistics Manager, Civic and Voter Education Manager, Legal Officer and Chief Accountant.

Draft copies of the vacancy advertisements have been examined and approved by members of commission. Among them is the advertisement for CEO which requires candidates applying for that post to have a Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration, Law, Management or relevant discipline from a reputable and recognised institution, and specific training and verifiable experience in managing election systems, along with at least 10 years experience in a senior management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines.

Additionally, candidates would need at least 10 years experience in Management of National Elections and Election Systems.

While no decision has been made as to when the vacancies will be advertised and for how long, the Commission will commence advertising the vacant posts, however, it agreed that the vacancy notices will be placed in all of the national local newspapers, and on all of the licensed radio stations in Guyana.

Just a few weeks ago, this newspaper reported that the staff deficiency at GECOM was starting to take a toll on its operations.

People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) appointed GECOM Commissioner, Bibi Shadick, had disclosed that the absence of key personnel at the secretariat can see the operations of the Elections Commission “grinding to a halt”.

Shadick had pointed to the absence of key managerial staffers at GECOM such as the Chief Accountant and had explained the impact of the post remaining vacant.

“We have rent payments for buildings that GECOM occupies around the country, outstanding since January. We don’t know when the landlord will say time’s up for GECOM, they want their building…,”she said.

She revealed at that time that the Commission has been in discussion over the issue of filling the vacancies but the officer responsible for providing the information has been slow in responding to the requests of the commissioners.

“There are quite a few vacancies for senior positions. We have been demanding the detailed job description for the positions but the HR Manager has been slow in providing the information.”

Further, the PPP/C appointed commissioner said that GECOM’s plans to host Local Government Elections later this year may be aborted.

“Personally, I don’t see that happening. Local Government Elections cannot be held if we don’t have any of the necessary personnel. We have no registration commissioner; no one to sign off on ID cards, there is no Chief Election Officer to do the necessary preparations in time for an elections, at year end,” she said.

Shadick’s comments had followed a notice published by GECOM to the public explaining that it has temporarily suspended the production of National Identification (ID) cards due to a vacancy for a Commissioner of National Registration. The national ID card is used as a proof of identity, and citizenship in the conduct of business transactions, if such proof is required.

Draft copies of the vacancy advertisements have been examined and approved by members of commission. Among them is the advertisement for CEO which requires candidates applying for that post to have a Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration, Law, Management or relevant discipline from a reputable and recognised institution, and specific training and verifiable experience in managing election systems, along with at least 10 years experience in a senior management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines.

Additionally, candidates would need at least 10 years experience in Management of National Elections and Election Systems.

Who in Guyana have the requisite qualifications  for the CEO position ? any name comes to mind ? will the individual applied for the position ?

@Django posted:

Draft copies of the vacancy advertisements have been examined and approved by members of commission. Among them is the advertisement for CEO which requires candidates applying for that post to have a Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration, Law, Management or relevant discipline from a reputable and recognised institution, and specific training and verifiable experience in managing election systems, along with at least 10 years experience in a senior management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines.

Additionally, candidates would need at least 10 years experience in Management of National Elections and Election Systems.

Who in Guyana have the requisite qualifications  for the CEO position ? any name comes to mind ? will the individual applied for the position ?

Not a problem--Irfaan Ali knows how to get diplomas printed. 

claudette singh never says anything. What is she actually getting paid the huge sum of money for?

Vishnu Persaud, Leslie Harrow to be interviewed for GECOM’s CEO position

Former Deputy Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud and Jamaican Leslie Harrow are the two candidates remaining in the race for the new CEO at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

At a meeting today, the Commission has decided to shortlist the two candidates who will be interviewed next week for the position.

The evaluation criteria which will be used during the interview process is still being finalised.

This was confirmed by Government Commissioner Sase Gunraj who explained that the Commission has determined that those two candidates are the most qualified “academically and experience-wise”.

This publication was able to ascertain from news reports in Jamaica that Harrow was up until May employed as head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Jamaica.

Persaud, who was employed as the DCEO from 2014 to 2017, was overlooked for appointment when he sought to return to the position in 2018.

Among the other candidates who were in the running for the new CEO position were Dr Kurt Clarke from Texas and Eugene Godfrey Petty from St Kitts.

When GECOM had put out the advertisements to fill these positions in October, over a dozen persons – both locally and overseas – had applied for the post of CEO.

Lack of quorum stalls finalisation of shortlisting for GECOM’s DCEO

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh was forced to adjourn a meeting on Thursday after only one Opposition-nominated Commissioner turned up.

The meeting was set for the seven-member Commission to finalise the evaluation criteria ahead of Monday’s interview with the two shortlisted candidates for the position of Chief Elections Officer (CEO), former DCEO Vishnu Persaud and former Jamaican election official Leslie Harrow.

Additionally, GECOM was slated to shortlist candidates for the post of Deputy CEO.

However, this could not be done after only Commissioner Vincent Alexander showed up. With the no-show of Alexander’s Opposition-nominated colleagues Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman, the meeting lacked a quorum.

This was revealed by Government-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj.

“Only Mr Alexander showed up to the meeting today (Thursday)… So, we didn’t get to do any discussions on the shortlisted DCEO candidates today,” he told Guyana Times.

Last month, four candidates had been shortlisted for the DCEO post – Melanie Marshall, Neil Bacchus, Mohamed Arjoon, and Deodat Persaud. The Commission was expected to discuss and select the final candidates from this list to be interviewed for the post.

Meanwhile, as it relates to the CEO post, Commissioner Gunraj informed this publication on Thursday that they were “going straight to the interviews on Monday”.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the seven-member Commission selected Persaud and Harrow from a group of six shortlisted candidates to be interviewed for the top position at GECOM.

Gunraj had explained that the Commission determined that these two were the most qualified candidates “academically and experience-wise”.

Persaud, who was employed as GECOM’s DCEO from 2014 to 2017, was overlooked for appointment when he sought to return to the position in 2018.

In fact, his non-appointment sparked controversy and even an investigation by the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), which had concluded six months after that he was overlooked and was more qualified than the person who was chosen over him for the position, Roxanne Myers.

On the other hand, news reports in Jamaica revealed that Harrow was up until May employed as Head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Jamaica. He previously served in several junior and senior positions at the Electoral Commission of Jamaica over his 18-year tenure there.

Meanwhile, with the selection of Persaud and Harrow, GECOM Information Technology Manager Aneal Giddings; GECOM Assistant Registration Officer and former ERC Commissioner Deodat Persaud, Dr Kurt Clarke from Texas, and Eugene Godfrey Petty from St Kitts have been removed from the race for the new GECOM CEO.

When GECOM had put out the advertisements to fill these positions in October, over a dozen persons – both local and foreign – had applied for the post of CEO.

Meanwhile, the electoral body is also looking to fill several other key senior positions within the Elections Secretariat including Assistant Chief Elections Officer, Chief Accountant, Legal Officer, Logistics Officer, and Civic and Voter Education Manager.

These posts are being filled following the removal of CEO Keith Lowenfield; his deputy, Roxanne Myers, and Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo. They were on August 12 dismissed from their respective posts at the Elections Commission.

The embattled trio are currently before the courts facing a number of electoral fraud charges for their alleged attempts to sway the results of the March 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then ruling A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government.

Lowenfield’s election report claimed that the then governing APNU/AFC coalition garnered 171,825 votes while the then Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) gained 166,343 votes.

How he arrived at those figures is still unknown, since the certified results from the national recount exercise supervised by GECOM and a high-level team from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) showed that the PPP/C won with 233,336 votes while the coalition garnered 217,920.

The recount exercise also proved that Mingo heavily inflated the figures in Region Four (Guyana’s most populated voting district) in favour of the then caretaker APNU/AFC regime – which was defeated by a No-Confidence Motion in December 2018.

Against this backdrop, the three Government-nominated GECOM Commissioners – Gunraj, Manoj Narayan and Bibi Shadick – on June 1, 2021, brought motions calling for the dismissal of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo.

Following several delays and legal proceedings, the GECOM Chair announced their terminations, after weeks of deliberation on the motions, effective August 18, 2021.

If opposition commissioners failed to attend subsequent meetings, GECOM has procedures to continue with its meetings after such non-attendances.

Decision on new GECOM CEO likely to be determined by vote among Commissioners

Candidates for GECOM CEO position: Leslie Harrow and Vishnu Persaud

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) today conducted interviews with two applicants for the position of Chief Elections Officer (CEO) but the successful candidate is likely to be determined through a voting process among the Commissioners.

The two shortlisted candidates currently vying for the position of CEO are the former Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Vishnu Persaud and former Jamaican election official Leslie Harrow. They are the product of combined lists of candidates submitted by the two sides of the GECOM divide.

The two candidates were interviewed by the seven-member Commission, composed of Sase Gunraj, Bibi Shadick and Manoj Narayan on the Government side and Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Desmond Trotman on the Opposition side and Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh acting as the tie breaker if necessary.

According to a source, the GECOM Commissioners will now have to submit to the Chairperson their scores of each candidate. Asked whether the successful candidate will be determined by the person with the highest score, the source explained that it may likely come down to a vote.

“I think it will come down to a vote. I think so from how this is shaping but that’s only my thoughts…,” the source revealed.

These scores are expected to be submitted by tomorrow ahead of a meeting scheduled for 13:00h where the Commissioners will discuss the next step in the process of hiring a new CEO.

“The Chairman doesn’t want the decision to take long,” the source explained.

Reports are that in the past, appointees to the CEO or DCEO post were hired based on an interview with the Commission, during which they would be evaluated and ranked based on a score sheet. The candidate with the highest score would be appointed.

INews understands that Persaud and Harrow were quizzed on their professional and academic qualifications, experience and general knowledge of elections in Guyana.

With the interviews completed, this publication understands that the two candidates have been asked to submit to GECOM copies of their academic certificates.

Persaud, who was employed as GECOM’s DCEO from 2014 to 2017, was overlooked for appointment when he sought to return to the position in 2018. In fact, his non-appointment sparked controversy and even an investigation by the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), which had concluded six months after that he was overlooked and was more qualified than the person who was chosen over him for the position, Roxanne Myers.

On the other hand, news reports in Jamaica revealed that Leslie Harrow was up until May employed as Head of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Jamaica. He previously served in several junior and senior positions at the Electoral Commission of Jamaica over his 18-year tenure there.

GECOM deliberations on new CEO deferred to Friday

Dec 08, 2021 News - Source - Kaieteur News Online - https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...-deferred-to-friday/

Kaieteur News – The seven-member commission of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has deferred deliberations on the appointment of a new Chief Elections Officer (CEO) to Friday.

Former acting DCEO, Vishnu Persaud (left) and a former Elections Officer of Jamaica, Leslie Harrow.

A meeting was scheduled on Tuesday to discuss the interviews conducted with the two candidates vying for the post. However, this newspaper was told that matter came up but was not discussed at length. “The meeting was more about routine matters rather than the appointments. The deliberations have been deferred to Friday where at least one commissioner is hopeful that these discussions can be concluded,” an official close to the issue told Kaieteur News. GECOM has been without a CEO since August after the commission took a decision to dismiss Keith Lowenfield. At present, GECOM has to consider between two candidates who made the final cut to be interviews for the post; former DCEO Vishnu Persaud and a former Elections Officer of Jamaica, Leslie Harrow.

Based on advertisements, GECOM requires the CEO to be examined and approved by members of the commission. Among the other requirements for the CEO post, candidates must have requisite qualifications which include a Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration, Law, Management or relevant discipline from a reputable and recognised institution, and specific training and verifiable experience in managing election systems, along with at least 10 years of experience in a senior management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines.

Additionally, candidates would need at least 10 years relevant experience in Management of National Elections and Election Systems. Kaieteur News understands that following the deliberations on Friday, the seven member commission will vote on which of two candidates; former acting DCEO Persaud and a former Elections Officer of Jamaica, Harrow will fill the vacancy. This newspaper understands that so far. Persaud who served as Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Guyana Elections Commission for several years before being appointed to the position of Acting Deputy Chief Election Officer is favoured by the government representatives of the Commission.

The former DCEO acted in that position for three years, but he left GECOM after his contract was not renewed.