Statement by Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission Justice Claudette Singh
It has been brought to my attention that Mr. Desmond Trotman, Commissioner of GECOM, in an interview earlier today with the Press, has alleged that as the Chairperson of GECOM, I have been “facilitating the handing over of information and the persecution of members of staff without showing any willingness to take some line of action” and further that “party to what is happening, is the Chair of the Commission because she is facilitating every line of action that the police is taking and claiming that she cannot interfere……She has instructed that documents be handed over without ascertaining what the documents are
going to be used for”.
I wish to state that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force had requested the contracts of some members of staff which I reported at a Statutory Meeting of the Commission.
After some discussion, I undertook to seek clarity from the CID as to the purpose of the request as these documents are private to GECOM and those members of staff. A response from the CID advised that what in fact was required were their respective Job Descriptions.
Considering that this information is public, I instructed the Human Resources Manager to provide Job Descriptions only.
As Chairperson of GECOM and a former Police Legal Advisor, I do not have the authority to interfere into the work of the Guyana Police Force nor any other Statutory Body and will always ensure that the best interest of the members of staff of GECOM are protected.
It is regrettable that Commissioner Trotman will publicly admonish work of the Commission especially in light of the fact that he was present and a party to these discussions.
