Georgetown – Acting Chief Justice Roxane George SC on Monday ruled that the list of nominees for the post of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair does not have to include a judge, a former judge or a person qualified to be a judge and that the President must state reasons for rejecting any candidate. Further, that if the President finds one or more of the nominees unacceptable, it does not disqualify the entire list.
This ruling essentially goes against President David Granger’s interpretation of the constitution as it relates to the appointment of a chairman to head the Commission.
In her ruling the Chief Justice noted that the constitution gives no reference for judicial persons but for other categories of persons who are found to be fit and proper for the post. Her ruling clarifies that the GECOM chairman does not necessarily have be a judicial officer, or a person qualified as such.
She noted, however, that the person must have judge-like qualities and possess integrity, honesty and impartiality. She stressed that the words ‘fit and proper’ can apply to persons from a number of professions or callings.
The judge noted that Article 162 (2) of the Constitution speaks to the need for dialogue and compromise. As such, she noted that Granger in rejecting the list provided by the opposition should give reason for the rejection of the names as it would give an indication of those to be accepted.
A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency said that Chief Justice, Madame Roxanne George-Wiltshire, upheld the Government’s conviction that it is the President who must determine whether the list of nominees submitted by the Leader of the Opposition for the position of Chairmanship of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is acceptable.
The Chief Justice also confirmed in her ruling that it is the President, acting in his own deliberate judgement, who must determine whether a person is ‘fit and proper’.
The ruling was made on a case brought against the Attorney General, Minister Basil Williams, by Mr. Marcel Gaskin, a private citizen, who had asked the High Court to provide an interpretation of the Constitution as it relates to the selection of a Chairman for GECOM.
The Chief Justice advised that there is no legal requirement for the President to state reasons for rejecting a list, though it is her belief that in the furtherance of democracy and good governance, he should since Article 161 (2) speaks to the need for dialogue and compromise.
The President has made consultation and dialogue a priority, meeting with the Opposition Leader, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo and other members of the Opposition as recent as June 12, 2017. They had previously met on March 08, 2017.
The Chief Justice further advised that it is the Head of State who has sole discretion on the determination of what is ‘fit and proper’ and as such, the President is not obligated to select a person from the six names on a list of which he has determined positively that the persons thereon are unacceptable as fit and proper persons for appointment.
Further, the Chief Justice stated in her ruling that the President must consider each person unless the President provided the Leader of the Opposition with guidelines of who is unacceptable. President Granger did provide the Leader of the Opposition with a list of criteria based on his interpretation of the Constitution, for a person to be qualified for the position of Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission in a letter sent on March 16, 2017. The Leader of the Opposition did not object to those criteria and submitted a second list.
The Chief Justice ruled that the President did not have to wait for the submission of a new list. He, according to the Constitution, could have gone ahead and appointed a Chairman, having rejected the first list.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo has a problem with this. “I am informed that in the course of her ruling, the Honourable Chief Justice is interpreted to have said that if the President deems every name on a list as unacceptable, then the proviso to Article 161 applies,” Mr Jagdeo noted.
“If this report is correct, we respectfully take issue with this aspect of the Chief Justice’s ruling. We maintain most resolutely that the proviso only applies when no list has been submitted. That once a list has been submitted, the proviso has no applicability.
“It is public knowledge that a list was submitted several months ago. The first six names on that list were rejected and a second set of six names was substituted.
“The second set of names has also been rejected and a third set of names shall be submitted shortly – all upon the invitation of the President,” Jagdeo submitted.
Mr Jagdeo contended that the proviso to Article 162 of the Constitution was not placed before the Court for its interpretation, nor was it part of any of the questions posed to the Court, nor was it the subject of any legal submissions, either from the Applicant’s, nor the Guyana Bar Association’s nor his Attorneys-at-Law. It is therefore rather strange that such a proposition appears to form part of the ruling in the case.

Georgetown – Saying that former New Building Society (NBS) Manager Maurice Arjoon was “wrongfully dismissed,” Justice Brassington Reynolds on Monday found that he is entitled to recover all benefits that were lost as a result of the decision.
Justice Reynolds, delivering the long-awaited ruling on Arjoon’s suit against the NBS in the High Court in Georgetown, said Arjoon is to be compensated accordingly for severance benefits, pension and loss of earnings.
The court ordered that severance be paid in accordance with the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act, while the loss of earnings is to cover the period from dismissal to six months later, when Arjoon would have been retiring – June, 2007 to February, 2008.
Loss of earnings are to be paid at an interest of 6% per annum and 4% from date of judgement.
The payment of all outstanding leave passage and allowances were also awarded to Arjoon.
The specific computation of monetary award is to be made by the court later.
At the conclusion of his ruling, Justice Reynolds had ordered that the plaintiff be compensated but did not give the exact amount to be paid over to Arjoon by the NBS.
Both Arjoon’s attorney, Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo, and counsel for the bank, Senior Counsel Ashton Chase, noted that it is standard procedure that the court makes the computation.
Luckhoo added that it would be quite unlikely that he and Chase would ever agree on the amount to be paid. As a result, the court said that the computation will be done and made available to both parties. NBS was also ordered to pay costs to Arjoon in the sum of $200,000.
In a more than one-hour judgement delivered from the bench, Justice Reynolds, referencing case law and other jurisprudential authorities, said the court found no evidence to substantiate the NBS’s claims that Arjoon committed gross or serious misconduct, warranting his dismissal.
The judge said that it showed no established rules, standards or procedures stipulated in its manual, which Arjoon was guilty of breaching.
The court noted that by its own admission, NBS, during the trial, acknowledged that there existed poor systemic procedures of adequate checks and balance for detecting gross or serious misconduct, such as that levelled against Arjoon.
The judge pointed out that the NBS highlighted that its systemic procedures were improved only after charges were instituted against Arjoon. The court noted that it was unfair for Arjoon to have been dismissed when the bank had no systems in place to have proved that he was guilty of any wrongdoing.
Justice Reynolds asserted that such determinations could not be made according to a “Peter pay for Paul and Paul pay for all,” standard.
Acknowledging and apologising for the long overdue judgement, the judge said that a number of administrative commitments militated against an earlier delivery. Justice Reynolds attributed the delay to his involvement with the establishment of the Family Court last year, coupled with his role as logistics officer on the local organising committee for the Commonwealth of Courts. He noted, also, recent personal family tragedies in the loss of both his son and mother.
On June 12, 2007, Arjoon and two other managers, Kent Vincent, Operations Manager and Kissoon Baldeo, Assistant Mortgage Manager, had their services terminated after $69 million was discovered missing from the account of Bibi Khan.
Arjoon was interdicted from duty before being dismissed. The trio, along with several other employees of the bank, were charged in the matter but they were later freed after Khan repeatedly failed to attend court hearings.
After the charge against him was thrown out, Arjoon subsequently filed the lawsuit against the society, for wrongful dismissal.
Late Ombudsman Justice Winston Moore had concluded that the three managers suffered a “grave injustice” as he found that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that the trio was guilty, let alone to successfully prosecute them.

Georgetown – Cornelius Thomas, a Trinidadian, one of the prisoners who escaped during the fire at the Camp Street prison on Sunday July 9 has been recaptured.
The 32-year-old of Lot 36 Guyhoc Gardens was arrested around 3 pm at ‘C’ Field Sophia, Georgetown on Monday.
The police reportedly received information of the escapee hiding and went to the location and arrested him. He was on remand for murder.
On Friday, another prison escapee, Desmond James, was arrested in an abandoned shack on an access dam at Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara. He was caught with a knife and a few pieces of clothing and told the police that he was heading to Essequibo. James, apprehended minutes to midnight, had allegedly been taken there by a woman.
Those still on the run are Bartica and Lusignan massacre killer Mark Royden Williams, ex-cop Uree Varswyck, Stafrei Hopkinson, and Cobena Stephens, 26, of Buxton. Based on information, Uree, Williams and Hopkinson are together and are hiding out in the backlands.
Director of Prisons Gladwyn Samuels had previously identified Williams, Alexander and Varswyk as the main orchestrators of the breakout; he had said he believed the fires were set at the facility as a smokescreen for their escape.
Just before 5 pm on the day of the conflagration, the Camp Street prison surveillance cameras picked up five prisoners exiting the facility and making their way towards Bent Street, Georgetown, while opening fire on Tactical Service Unit (TSU) ranks that were guarding the compound.
Following the breakout, taxi driver Matthew Shivtahal had said that four of the prisoners had hijacked his motorcar.
He had related to the press that after abandoning the car at North Ruimveldt, the men took him to the backlands and later left him at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara. After a day of walking, Shivtahal said, he found his way to Annandale, East Coast Demerara.
It is suspected that Thomas and Stephens slipped away while they were being transported to the Lusignan Prison.
Resulting from the rioting, prison officer Odinga Wickham succumbed to gunshot wounds inflicted on him by inmates at the prison. His colleague, Hubert Trim, who was the Duty Officer at the time, is in a critical state having sustained chop wounds to the head.
Prison officers Simeon Sandy, Errol Daphness, Drexel Gonsalves, Jason Maltoy and Dominic Mingo were also injured.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Police Force, in its efforts to recapture the prisoners, is appealing to members of the public, relatives and friends to give any relevant information as to the whereabouts of these escapees so that they can be captured and returned to the prison.
Also, an appeal is being made to the escapees to surrender to the police or relevant authority, to avoid any serious confrontation that is likely to result in the use of force.
All information will be treated confidentially and also the rights of those escapees will be respected and upheld, the police said.
In the meantime some 450 inmates who were being housed in a pasture at the Lusignan Prison were on Monday transferred to a new temporary holding area at the Camp Street prison.
Prison Director, Gladwin Samuels said that they will continue to put things in place to find alternative locations for the other persons who will remain on the pasture.
In addition, works are continuing at the brick penitentiary building at the Georgetown Prison and another area which was not destroyed by the fire.
These two buildings will house a total of 350 prisoners at the Georgetown Prison location, further reducing the number of inmates who are being held at Lusignan. To date, over 400 prisoners in total have been transferred to the prisons in New Amsterdam, Mazaruni and Timehri.
Currently, expansion of the Mazaruni Prison is ongoing at a cost of $278M. The expansion of the Prison was initiated after the completion of the Commission of Inquiry following the fire and deaths of 17 inmates of the Georgetown Prison on March 3, 2016.
Twenty living quarters are being constructed to accommodate additional prison officers in anticipation of at least 400 prisoners who will be housed at the Mazaruni prison.
President Granger stated that the Government has no intention of rebuilding the Georgetown Prison as it was previously configured. He said his administration will exhaust all efforts to ensure that the prison system is more secure and not susceptible to the cycle of disturbances, which Guyana has witnessed over the years.

Georgetown – An Assistant Commissioner of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is in deep trouble and could soon find himself without a job.
The official, from the Law Enforcement and Investigation Division (LEID), was sent on leave on Tuesday of last week, pending an investigation, GRA sources disclosed.
The same officer was sacked in 2010 by former management for inefficiency. He was accused then, of taking bribes.
He was rehired by the new Governing Board of Directors in 2015 when the Coalition Government took office, receiving more than $500,000 per month in salary.
The media reports that the official, who has responsibilities for enforcement in the various regions for GRA, apparently angered a Berbice businessman after a driver of LEID was recently sent late one night, to the home of the businessman to uplift cash.
The businessman reportedly made contact with senior GRA officials who launched an investigation resuting in the Assistant Commissioner being sent on leave.
According to other complaints, the Assistant Commissioner even requested two 50-inch television sets as a bribe from another businessman.
Some GRA employees were aware that the officer was sent off but were tight-lipped on the issue.
According to officials, the Assistant Commissioner was sent packing in 2010 by former Commissioner General, Khurshid Sattaur, for a “history of corruption”.
However, a senior LEID official and a member of the Governing Board of Directors insisted that he should come back.
According to a high-ranking official, this latest incident is a worrying situation for GRA.
“If you can’t trust the people at the enforcement level, who can you trust? These are the people who are the gatekeepers.”
GRA, the country’s premier revenue collection agency, had been grappling with corruption for years now.
Customs officials have been known to be on the payroll of businessmen for turning a blind eye on shipments and containers that come in. Some of the scams include under-invoicing and declaring one item but really bringing in another high-valued item.
As a result, annually, Guyana has been losing billions of dollars in revenue because of corruption at wharves and check points.
GRA has placed security cameras on the wharves and has announced zero tolerance on corruption in its ranks but the incidents have continued.
The administration on assuming office in 2015 had announced a major shakeup at GRA, sending home long-serving Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur and a number of senior officials.
A new board of directors, under accountant Rawle Lucas, was appointed.
Also hired as the new Commissioner-General was Godfrey Statia, who has years of experience in tax collection in Guyana.

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