Over a month after Junior Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister Valerie Garrido-Lowe said a report of alleged irregularities in the Toshao election at Capoey, Region Two, was being examined, nothing has been done and some residents remain concerned about the current village leader.
Garrido-Lowe told Stabroek News that the ministry is aware of the reports of some of the issues the village is facing and noted that many other villages also have problems. Owing to the fact that the ministry is still new and also has other obligations, she said, it has not been possible to visit all the villages to address the issues.
Garrido-Lowe, however, added that she plans to visit Capoey next week.
Some villagers remain outraged and displeased with the new Toshao, former Community Development Officer, Melrose Henry, who reportedly won the election by one vote on July 28 over Esther Rodrigues. A previous election held earlier in the same month ended in a tie.
Villagers say both elections were clearly flawed since they contend that persons who were ineligible to vote were allowed to do so.
One villager said persons who had migrated from the village over 10 years prior were allowed to vote.
According to the villager, a migrant should only be allowed to vote once he/she left to pursue studies or jobs elsewhere. However, the villager indicated that persons who had married and moved out of the community were allowed to vote.
At the first election, the villager said about five persons were present to vote whose names were not on the official list of eligible voters and upon their request to vote, the former toshao pulled out a list from his pocket and presented it. That list included the names of the voters who were not eligible, the villager said.
At the second election, the villager said the persons who had migrated from the village again appeared to vote despite objections by Rodrigues.
Since many of the persons living in the village are aware that the election was not fair, the villager said many persons are reluctant to cooperate with the new leader. As a result, much of the responsibility is being shouldered by the Deputy Toshao.
The resident further stated that Henry would often leave the village without informing the Deputy Toshao.
At the moment the village is preparing to celebrate its annual heritage celebrations, which are scheduled for September 27, and the toshao is not in the community to address the concerns of the villagers in connection with the celebrations, the resident said.
According to the resident, the issue was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs but no one looked into the issue.
“Is three letters we write the ministry… about three persons go into them but nobody never came into the village to investigate the reports,” the resident said.
In addition, the resident also pointed out that there was no audit done into the financial accounts of the village for the past year and although the issue was brought to the Toshao’s attention, she has refused a request for the records to be checked.
