Former Home Affairs Minister and Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Robeson Benn testified Thursday that he believed an effort was underway to manipulate the results of Guyana’s March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
He continued giving evidence in the election fraud trial before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. Benn is currently a Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Benn was cross-examined by defence attorney Nigel Hughes about events at GECOM’s Command Centre at Ashmins Building, including the disputed tabulation, a bomb scare and alleged discrepancies between figures displayed at the centre and those recorded on Statements of Poll.
Explaining why he remained at the building despite a police instruction to evacuate during the bomb scare, the prosecution witness said he was acting in his capacity as a GECOM Commissioner.
He testified that he was “plainly and clearly aware” that “there was an effort underway to steal the elections and to alter the results.”
Asked what authority allowed him to disregard the police instruction, Benn pointed to the Constitution of Guyana and his position as a member of the Commission. He said he accepted “full moral and ethical responsibility” for remaining at the building.
Benn also said he believed police officers could have been used to facilitate an effort to rig the elections, but clarified that he was not suggesting they knowingly participated in a conspiracy.
His evidence also covered Order 60, the recount order, and discussions within GECOM concerning its implementation and rulings by then Chief Justice Roxane George, SC.
The senior government advisor was further questioned about discrepancies he allegedly observed during tabulation. He acknowledged examining a Statement of Poll after party agents protested that figures displayed on a screen differed from their records.
However, he admitted that he did not photograph or make a written record of the discrepancy.
Those on trial include former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Myers, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC) Minister Volda Lawrence and former APNU/AFC Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph.
The other accused are former GECOM employees Enrique Livan, Sheffern February, Michelle Miller and Denise Bobb-Cummings.
All defendants have pleaded not guilty and posted cash bail.
The prosecution, led by King’s Counsel Darshan Ramdhani, alleged that the nine accused conspired to manipulate the tabulation of votes in Region Four and ultimately declare a false result in favour of the APNU+AFC.
It further alleged that the accused inflated the coalition’s votes, reduced those of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and departed from the prescribed process for ascertaining the results.
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