By: Jarryl Bryan
As discussions continue on who will be the next Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh has completed the merging of the nominees submitted by both the Government and Opposition Commissioners.
During Tuesday’s statutory meeting, GECOM Commissioners were updated on the list of nominees for seven positions that include the CEO, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Legal Officer, Assistant CEO, Chief Accountant and Civic and Voter Education Manager.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed to this publication by a reliable source from the GECOM Secretariat that the merged shortlist of six candidates for the position of CEO includes the three foreigners who had applied for the position last month.
They are Dr Kurt Clarke from Texas, Leslie Oliver Harrow from Jamaica, and Eugene Godfrey Petty from St Kitts. Of the three, 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.
Another prominent name that has made it to the merged shortlist is GECOM’s Information Technology Manager Aneal Giddings. Also, still in the running for the CEO position is former Deputy CEO Vishnu Persaud. 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.
In fact, his non-appointment sparked controversy and even an investigation by the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), which had concluded six months after he was overlooked that he was, in fact, more qualified than the person (Roxanne Myers) who was chosen over him for the position.
Meanwhile, when contacted, GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj explained that the Chairperson has since combined the Government and Opposition side nominees for all seven positions.
“What they’ve done is combine all the lists and send them out today. So, what will be happening is that in short order, we will be moving towards deciding how we are moving forward with the process, as to conducting the interviews and so on.”
When asked, Gunraj declined to identify the persons who made it to the combined shortlist. Government-nominated Commissioner Bibi Shadick also declined to provide any names.
She did, however, express to this publication, her dissatisfaction with the pace at which the hiring process is going. In fact, Shadick was of the view that there were efforts afoot to delay the process of interviewing the candidates.
“I would like it to be sped up. I would like to hear, we’re going to interview on Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 to 1, we’re going to do it online or whatever, I’m not hearing that yet.”
“They haven’t even decided whether they’re doing the interviews virtually or not. I don’t know… what I see happening here is that we may not even get the interviews before January,” she said.
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. So far former CEO Gocool Boodoo, who was one of the more prominent names to apply, has withdrawn his application.
Other prominent names who had applied but have not made it to the merged shortlist are Attorney-at-Law Saphier Hussain, who was the presidential candidate for his National Independent Party (NIP) in the May 2015 General and Regional Elections and former Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President, Omar Shariff.
The persons who are eventually hired 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.
The Government-nominated Commissioners of GECOM had, on June 1, 2021, brought motions calling for the dismissal of Lowenfield, Myers and Mingo from GECOM. They are also before the court on assorted electoral fraud charges pertaining to the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.
