Sherwin Wellington, the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO), of Region 9- Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo- has been accused of rape by a female senior official attached to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) in the same region.
This publication was informed that the incident occurred sometime last week, while the accused and the alleged victim were on a business trip to Karasabi in Region 9.
INews was able to confirm with the Regional Chairman, Brian Allicock, on Thursday that a report was made at the Lethem Police Station regarding the matter, and an investigation has been launched.
“Yes. The police are working on it,” he told this publication via a telephone interview.
The Chairman explained that the report was made by the victim after she along with Wellington, and members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) returned from the village where they travelled for an outreach program on behalf of the organisation.
However, when this publication made contact with Wellington, he denied knowledge of the incident.
He also told INews that he was never approached and informed that a report of this nature was made against him.
“We don’t know about that. No, I am not aware of that. If someone makes an allegation, it has to be reported to the station, there’s a procedure. I’m not aware of a report being made and the incident. If anything, the police would have called me. They have not called me,” he posited.
Wellington further noted that he has never met with the Regional Executive Officer (REO) with regards to this issue.
However, the Regional Chairman refuted the claims made by the Deputy REO, highlighting that he was informed that Wellington was spoken to by his immediate senior, before a report was made to him [Chairman].
“We’re having ministerial visits and we didn’t sit as yet to discuss but the REO did that before he came to me to report” said Allicock.
Further inquiries revealed that the accused and victim are both still reporting to work.
Probed as to a reason for this, Allicock posited that according to protocol, a matter of this nature is usually forwarded to the Permanent Secretary, who will then make a decision as to whether the accused should be sent on leave, pending the outcome of the investigations.
Nevertheless, the Chairman expressed concern, as he highlighted that this is the second such incident to have reportedly occurred within the Region and it is contributing significantly to “tarnishing of the image of the Administration.”
Moreover, he assured that the accusation will be brought up at the Council’s next meeting.
In 2016, the then Regional Executive Officer of Region 9, Carl Parker was accused of raping a female who was an elected official serving on the RDC Council.
