The Guyana Cricket Board elections scheduled for the Umana Yana, Kingston, at noon yesterday did not come off after Cricket Ombudsman, Kamal Ramkarran, and cited fairness on Essequibo Cricket Board’s (ECB) part as the reason for the postponed.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jnr., had, on February 19, set yesterday as the day for the elections of the body which governs cricket in the country.
He had also named Attorney-at-Law Ramkaran as the Cricket Ombudsman, and, following the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) elections, the way was clear for the elections of the parent body.
With delegates from the DCB and Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) waiting 45 minutes after the scheduled time for the election, Ramkarran entered the historic venue after being engaged in a tribute to a late member of the legal fraternity in the Court of Appeal, a building sharing its fence with the Umana Yana.
Ramkaran, in giving the reason for the postponement of the elections, said the law offices of Satram and Satram had raised issues on behalf of the ECB.
“Mr. Satram, Attorney-at-Law, has raised issues of my function of verifying registers. Now, I have seen no register and I believe your election was held pursuant to Court orders and I believe the same was so with the Berbice Cricket Board. I do not believe the same is with Essequibo Cricket Board and if one of the functions is to verify the register and Essequibo raises the issue of the verification of register, then if everyone would agree sure, registers are above board, then we could proceed, but if Essequibo raised those concerns last night, raised the issue of verification of register, I could not in good conscience proceed with the election in their absence in light of the allegation that they issued to be resolved.
“I believe on an issue of fairness and to be fair to the people who have raised contentions about the election, about the process, we should hold off on elections until such time that those complaints have been resolved if not to the satisfaction of the people raising those complaints, at least objectively speaking, everybody will give their opinion, everything is clear and above board and the election is held there will be no contention,” Ramkarran detailed.
The legal professional added, “Every complaint, no matter how small you may think it is, is to be dealt with, be listened and be addressed in a fair and objective manner so that when we do have elections it will be without contention.”
Ramkarran’s announcement was met with disapproval from members of the DCB who urged him to carry out his function.
According to DCB executive member, Ronald Williams, “Two of the constitutional three cricket board have no issue with the elections being held, have no contentious issues and would be very pleased to see this election go on once and for all to bring an end to these issues, as you just refer to has been going on for over a decade…”
Ramkarran responded, “The problem as you said is that two of the three cricket boards are ready and one which is not and I would like to do everything which is possible to bring that one prodigal son back to the fold so that everybody could be satisfied and everybody could participate in the elections of the Guyana Cricket Board of which I am the returning officer…we have waited a long time for the elections and another short wait will not cause any irreparable harm in my opinion but the short wait could possibly bring a sort of coming together of the three cricket boards.”
Also giving his input was DCB President, Bissoondyal Singh who stated, “Essequibo had a responsibility to submit their delegates and then challenge it. They failed to do so, neglected or refused and so, it cannot be one’s desire to have some other process outside of the Cricket Administration Act. The Act is clear as to what should be done, it has been suspended for two years, 22 meetings at the Select Committee and then debates in the parliament passed unanimously save and except AFC [who] abstained and I cannot fathom to understand the Ombudsman appointed, a lawyer, is coming here to shift the date and is outside of his jurisdiction.”
Singh questioned how was it that the Ombudsman could not set the date of elections but have the power not to hold it, while Williams asked for a speedy date to be named.
Ramkarran quickly dispelled any claims of additional powers bestowed on him by the Cricket Administration Act.
“The holding of elections is not something I can set. The only power I have is to examine the register and be the Returning Officer at the elections. The Minister is the person to set the elections. Having seen the issues raised in the short space of time I’ve been appointed Cricket Ombudsman, a similar letter to that I wrote to the Cricket Board and to the Minister informing him that these are the difficulties being raised.”
“There is no Court order mandating these proceedings. Another one of the reasons I wish to have these issues resolved is to avoid further contention in litigation. There is already a case going on. There have already been many cases. Court is not the best way for cricket administration to resolve these issues in my opinion. Surely these issues can be resolved without the Court,” Ramkarran declared.
Singh was critical of the decision to postpone the elections.
“I don’t know the Minister and West Indies Board will go and set a date and time for elections without not telling him that if he can complete his mandate or duty so something went wrong last night.
“In the Guyana Cricket Administration act once there are two boards and 15 delegates there is a quorum, so we have satisfied everything as required by law. What we are walking into now is someone turn up that was named an Ombudsman and have a desire to do something this morning when he was supposed to be doing that a long time ago…something went wrong last night and we don’t know what it is,” he added.
“I am just shocked that the legal mind would come here and give us a different interpretation of the law and what his feelings are and what he should have done and what he didn’t do and just totally ignore what was his duty today,” Singh said.
The DCB boss labelled today’s unfolding as a “tremendous slap” in the face of democracy and revealed that through his attorney, they will move to the court to compel the Ombudsman to carry out his duties. These will be filed as early as Monday.
