Georgetown: Three persons charged with electoral fraud were on Thursday dismissed by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Those dismissed are Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield; Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers and the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo.
By a majority vote the trio employment contracts were terminated.
Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo and CEO Keith Lowenfield 
Roxanne Myers
GECOM Chair, Justice Claudette Singh explained that the terminations were provided for in the contracts of the officers.
In a statement, the Elections Commission posited that although the officers held public/statutory offices, they were not public but rather contractual officers and as a result, they have no security of tenure. The GECOM Chair said their respective contracts stipulated the terms by which they were bound.
According to the statement, “that these officers exercise the right to enter their respective contract willingly and voluntarily and were therefore aware of the method of termination provided by the respective contract,” adding that, “it is trite law that not even a court of law can enforce a contract for personal services against an employer terminating the contract of an employee since the proper relief for a breach in an employment contract for personal services lies in damages.”
In relation to the CEO, the Chair said, Clause 9 of his contract stipulates that his services can be terminated by giving him three months’ notice or payment in lieu of notice, and in the case of the DCEO and the RO their contracts stipulate that the Commission may at any time terminate their employment by giving three months’ notice or payment in lieu of.
Accordingly, the release said the officers will be paid three months’ salary inclusive of all allowances under their respective contract as well as payment for the remaining days of their vacation leave if any of those days remain.
The GECOM Chair cast the deciding vote to terminate the three GECOM Officers after the Opposition nominated Commissioners abstained from the vote.
The trio is accused of electoral fraud, committed last year during the elections.
The decision comes after more than a year of calls for the three senior functionaries at GECOM to be dismissed. In June this year, GECOM’s Chairman, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh took a decision to have them give up access to their offices and proceed on vacation leave until GECOM concludes its investigations on the allegations of electoral fraud.
Lowenfield on Monday last withdrew an Application he made in the High Court which challenged the motion to dismiss him.
Lowenfield is currently before the court with three counts of Misconduct in Public Office, and three counts of Forgery; while Myers with two counts of Misconduct in Public Office.
Mingo is currently charged with four counts of Misconduct in Public Office, while People’s National Congress Chairperson, Volda Lawrence and Opposition activist, Carol Joseph are also before the court on electoral fraud charges.
The trio were again charged with two new charges to defraud electors in June 2021 and released on $100,000 bail.
They are accused of inflating the results of Region Four – Guyana’s largest voting district – to give the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition a majority win at the March 2, 2020, polls when in fact, the PPP/C had won by 15,000 more votes.
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