…at GECOM
Their primary job is to conduct elections. Did their two-storey building – which is now etched in the psyches of the Guyanese people after the five months following the March 2 elections – prevent them from doing their jobs? (Who can forget those briefings by Commissioners?) They’re supposed to be getting ready for Local Government Elections (LGE) next year…is this what’s demanding the new building? It’s clear that these people think an “institution” is a building, and not a SOCIAL structure to perform a particular SOCIAL function. And let GECOM be reminded that their function is to conduct elections in a manner that satisfies our desire not to have elections to choose our government at the national level erupt into a conflagration every five years. The LGEs generate ennui, and not heat!
So GECOM do not have to go back far to see what needs to be fixed in their operations: it’s their PERSONNEL that staff the ORGANISATION that screwed up the March 2nd elections! And the Commission shouldn’t do a darn thing until THAT is fixed. So, let’s start with some positions, shall we? Right up on top are the TEN RETURNING OFFICERS (ROs) who’re the agglomerators of the votes that we, the people, cast. Up to now, the people below them, who take care of business at the 2300+ polling stations, haven’t been accused explicitly of having “cocked” their work. But the claimed “irregularities” by the APNU/AFC for their election petitions certainly imply such a conclusion. So GECOM should be checking on their procedures for monitoring these employees. since APNU/AFC are saying that the method in place to prevent such an occurrence – their parties’ scrutineers – were asleep at the wheels!
But back to the ROs. We know for sure that Mingo, the REG 4 RO, did the dirty to the SOPs that were sent to him. The man even used a dirty bedsheet for his dirty deed. So, for sure, GECOM should be vetting the system by which these worthies were hired, and come up with one that weeds out rotten (or partisan) eggs.
But at the top of their bucket list should be the position of CEO! For sure, Lowenfield’s not an outlier. Do we need a two-person CEO?
About the Commission itself, that’s for the political directorate!
…at the ERC
Your Eyewitness is also quite livid about the ERC. Funded to the tune of more than $250 million annually, their slickly designed web page tells us that “ERC is a Constitutional body with a mandate to promote ethnic harmony and good relations among all Guyanese.” So, if we have all this ethnic disharmony and bad relations among us Guyanese, shouldn’t they be the ones we should be pointing fingers at? What exactly have they been doing?
Their website gives us TWENTY-FOUR functions. Among these are to “Provide for equality of opportunity between persons of different ethnic groups, and to promote harmony and good relations between such persons.” When was the last time the ERC provided for equality between our ethnic groups?
Then there is, “Establish mechanisms and procedures for arbitration, conciliation, mediation, and like forms of dispute resolution that would ensure ethnic harmony and peace.” Where are these “mechanisms and procedures”?
Imagine what the other 22 functions demand but are ignored. This Commission must be refigured!
…of the PNC
You’d think that Granger would’ve been as busy as the proverbial beaver to retool the PNC to confront the new challenges, wouldn’t you? So how come he’s missing in action?
