Georgetown: Almost a dozen persons have come forward providing evidence that they were in Guyana in the aftermath of names submitted to the Commissioner of Police Leslie James by Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice Ret’d Claudette Singh on the allegations made by APNU+AFC that people who were not in country on March 2nd were ticked off on polling stations lists as having voted.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) in a press statement noted “The Administration of the Force iterates that Migration Data produce by the Immigration Department of the Guyana Police Force is generated through its Record system which includes an Electronic Border Management System. This system however, does not record persons who travelled illegally. Hence, the Guyana Police Force stands by the information provided to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) recently and totally refutes the article mentioned.”
However, evidence suggests that the stance taken by the GPF is part of the larger corruption of the state machinery by the incumbency that has been accused of trying to rig the March 2, elections to stay in office.
In a unilateral decision, the GECOM Chair had written to Police Commissioner Leslie James in his capacity as the Chief Immigration Officer to verify if hundreds of persons who were on the list were out of the country.
However, there is no word on whether ballots were issued for these individuals. Since the list was revealed to the public, almost a dozen persons on the list have come forward proving that they never left the country and voted in person on E-Day.
On Tuesday, an agent for APNU+AFC claimed that prominent attorney Devindra Kissoon was out of the country and did not vote.
Mr. Kissoon, in fact, voted at the African Museum in Bel Air Park and was one of the observers for the Guyana Bar Association on elections day. Kissoon was also one of the Attorneys in the case in which Ulita Moore, one of the APNU+AFC candidates, went to the court to block the recount.
On the list of names submitted to police was Mr. Amos Bhola, born on June 15, 1940, from the Essequibo Coast. The Police Commissioner claimed he left Guyana on April 18, 2019, and was not in the country on March 02. But Mr Bhola said his visa expired in 2013 and he never left the country since then.
Another person is Andreanna Indira Persaud, born on August 22, 1981. The Police Commissioner told the GECOM Chair that Persaud left Guyana on November 10, 2019, and was not in the country to vote. Persaud, from the Essequibo Coast, said she never travelled to go anywhere and did vote on March 2.
Karishma Raghunandan born on March 24, 1996, the Immigration Department claimed that she left Guyana on April 18, 2019 and did not return on/before Election Day. Raghunandan said that she was in Guyana on Election Day and cast her vote at Covent Garden Primary School.
Sydney Douglas Jones born on December 5, 1945, the Immigration Department claimed that he left Guyana on April 7, 2016 and did not return on/before Election Day. Jones said that he was in Guyana on Election Day and that he cast his vote at Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
Nishani Bissessar, from Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo went as far as to prepare an “Affidavit of Existence and Presence” to debunk the claim made by the Police Commissioner that she left Guyana on December 2, 2015 and was not in Guyana on March 02.
“I reject any such contention as being untrue and I reiterate on March 2nd, 2020 I was in the jurisdiction of Guyana and I voted…,” she stated in her affidavit.
Others include: Karisma Raghunandan, who it was claimed left Guyana on April 18, 2019; Kumarie Singh, who it is claimed left Guyana on August 15, 2014; Sydney Douglas Jones, who it is claimed left Guyana on April 07, 2016.
The Coalition APNU+AFC continues to slow down the national vote recount by making wild claims that persons who were out of the country were marked off as having voted.
At the end of day 28, of the ballot boxes counted the PPP was ahead with 180, 732 votes as compared to APNU+AFC with 162, 557 votes.
Also expressing concern over the GECOM Chair’s letter was Liberty and Justice Party (LJP) Presidential Candidate, Lennox Shuman. During his engagement with the media, Shuman expressed concern over GECOM undertaking to ask the Police Commissioner to investigate APNU/AFC claims.
He said that based on the legal advice his party received, GECOM is acting out of its remit.
According to him, Singh never revealed to stakeholders that she had written to the Police Commissioner to have the issue investigated.
According to him, Justice Singh has shown a selective attitude towards investigating wrongdoing, since the recount has shown that Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo manipulated numbers to give APNU/AFC a victory, yet the Chairperson has not asked the police to investigate this. According to him, the Chairperson is going down a slippery slope.
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