The process of hiring a Chief Election Officer (CEO) may finally come to an end on Friday when the Commission meets to finalise the appointment of either Jamaican Leslie Harrow or Vishnu Persaud to the post.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) met yesterday but according to government-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj, they went through routine business as opposed to discussing the outcome of Monday’s interviews with Persaud and Harrow.
Following Monday’s virtual interviews, the Commission asked both candidates to submit physical proof of their academic and professional qualifications. Gunraj told Stabroek News that they have received Persaud’s documents and are expecting Harrow’s by the end of today.
“We are hoping that Friday would bring the process to finality and we can move on to the other business of the Commission,” Gunraj said.
Meanwhile, Opposition-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander said that they have tweaked the submission of the applicants’ certificates.
“Mr Harrow was advised to submit scanned, certified copies of his documents within 24 hours because we had initially asked for the originals but that was problematic. Sending original documents is tough from so far so we should get those documents tomorrow and we will meet again at 10 am on Friday to further discuss the matter,” Alexander related.
Harrow and Persaud were the only two candidates of the 20 that applied to make it to the interview stage of the process.
During the interviews on Monday, Persaud and Harrow were evaluated on a number of criteria outlined in the Commission’s score sheet. Based on the previous score sheets candidates were possibly judged on their qualifications, understanding of Guyana’s electoral laws and systems, knowledge of conducting elections, and overall understanding of the electoral landscape in Guyana among other criteria.
Persaud is the holder of a Masters of Business Administration from Anglia Ruskin University in London, a Level 5 Certificate in Management and Leader-ship (Electoral Processes) from Chartered Management Institute in London, and a Diploma in Public Relations from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
He was initially hired as the Personal Assistant to then GECOM Chair Dr Steve Surujbally in November 2001 and also performed the functions of PRO. However, without a Bachelor’s Degree and the lack of substantive elections management experience, the Opposition side is adamant that Persaud is not suitably qualified to function as the CEO.
During his final three years at GECOM, 2014-2017, Persaud functioned as the Deputy CEO but missed out on reappointment after he was controversially given the boot and the now former DCEO Roxanne Myers was selected.
On the other hand, Harrow is said to have over 20 years of experience working in the field of administration and governance. He spent over 18 of those years with the ECJ. He started as an Office Manager in 1997 and served there until January 2001. In 2002, he returned to the ECJ as the Regional Manager and served up until May 2017.
He was involved, in a leadership role, in the Jamaican national elections of 2002, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2016. As Zonal Manager, he was responsible for coordinating, supervising and managing election activities in 4 Regions – Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, St Thomas and Portland and St Mary.
He was also part of several Electoral Observer Missions – CARICOM Mission to Antigua and Barbuda in 2018, El Salvador in 2014, Turks and Caicos Island in 2012, among others.
Harrow is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Organisational Leadership at the One Way International Theological Seminary. He has a certificate in Competitive Strategy from Loyola Marymount University, USA; Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Edin-burgh Napier University, UK; Postgraduate Diploma in Public Sector Senior Management Development Programme from Management Institute for National Development, Jamaica; Executive Mas-ters of Business Administration, University of the Commonwealth Caribbean; Certificate in Project Management from Boston University, USA; Professional Master’s Degree in Operations Management, City and Guild of London Institute; Diploma in Management Studies, Jamaican Institute of Management; and Certificate in Marketing, University of the West Indies.
