December 22 ,2020
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is on track to have Local Government Elections (LGE) held at the end of 2021 when it is legally due.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday, GECOM Chair Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh explained that a work plan for the elections is currently being reviewed by the Commission.
“We are preparing a work plan for LGE. In fact the work plan is before the Commission and expected to be approved possibly as early as January,” Singh told Stabroek News.
On Saturday, Singh was challenged by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) to pronounce on the election body’s preparedness to hold local government polls. They also labelled the potential involvement of elections officials who have been charged with misconduct in office “unacceptable.”
The PSC urged the Chair to “speak out and speak plainly about the action being taken to put right all that has gone wrong in GECOM and to do it quickly.”
One of those things which have “gone wrong,” according to the private sector body, is the fact that senior officials of GECOM, including the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield, District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, and a number of other officials are charged before the courts with “misconduct in public office”.
The body noted that despite these charges none of these officers have been dismissed nor have they been suspended from duty.
Asked to respond to the PSC’s statement, Singh said she had no comment on the matter.
She however took pains to clarify that the Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield is currently on leave having requested same. She was responding to an erroneous report in yesterday’s Guyana Chronicle.
“Mr. Keith Lowenfield applied on 1st September, 2020 for his accumulative 2016 – 2019 annual leave totaling 146 days. Mr. Lowenfield’s request was approved by the Chairperson and his leave commenced on 7th September, 2020 and will conclude on 30th January, 2021,” a brief statement from the Commission further explained.
