In a memo to GECOM Chair Claudette Singh on March 19th 2020, then Deputy Chief Election Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers denied any orders from her to evict elections commissioners on March 5th 2020 and March 16th 2020.
There have been frequent claims about Myers’ role in the attempted eviction of commissioner Sase Gunraj from the Ashmins building on March 5th 2020 and this was repeated at yesterday’s sitting of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the elections.
In her memo to Singh, Myers said: “please be informed that there was no directive to evict Commissioners from any place where GECOM operations was being executed”. She said that the memo was submitted to provide a response to accusations aired by late Commissioner Bibi Shadick at the meeting of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on 17 March 2020.
Myers, whose contract as DCEO was terminated in August 2021, said that on the evening of 5th March 2020 when Singh had left the Command Centre of GECOM at the Ashmins building on High and Hadfield Sts and the operations of GECOM were closed for the day, she (Myers) was instructed by the Chief Election Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield to shut down the building and hand over the security of the building to the Guyana Police Force. She said that the instruction was passed to her, as the two GECOM Security Officers had abandoned their position and “there was overwhelming evidence that GECOM had lost control of security of its Command Centre to politicians, their affiliates, bodyguards and observers”.
Upon securing the CEO’s office, Myers said that she encountered Commissioner Robeson Benn on the second floor of the building overlooking the ground floor. She said that he was informed of the action to shut down the building.
“Commissioner Benn advised that I inform the persons occupying the office of the Returning Officer of the action to be taken, to which I acquiesced. By the time, I reached the ground floor, the Divisional Commander, Mr (Edgar) Thomas and some twenty ranks were already in place forming a human barrier to prevent approximately one hundred party agents and observers; some of whom were persons not entitled to be there from re-entering other floors.
“The Commander also asked that the persons be told of the action to be taken after which the police would ensure the building is vacated. I entered the Office of the Returning Officer (RO) and explained to the persons present that GECOM had closed its operations for the day and as such the building would be vacated of all persons and left under the command of the Guyana Police Force. There was an uproar and I left the room and repaired to the second floor to observe the departure of persons on the ground floor. From that vantage point, I saw the General Secretary of the PPP/C, Mr. (Bharrat) Jagdeo speaking with the Divisional Commander, Mr. Thomas. Shortly after, all the ranks left the building and there was loud applause. Approximately, twenty minutes after most of the persons vacated the RO’s Office along with Mr. Jadgeo”, Myers stated in the memo.
Myers, who is facing charges related to the 2020 elections, said that she noticed that Commissioner Benn had departed but Commissioner Gunraj remained with some twelve persons in the office of the RO. “I again returned to the ground floor to engage the Commissioner Gunraj and Chief Accountant. The former expressed his concerns about the security of materials in the ROs office. I assured him that the office would be locked, and all staff would leave the building. Further, it was agreed that Commissioner Gunraj could place a chain and lock on the office door. After his attempts to operationalize the latter were unsuccessful, Commissioner Gunraj told me he would go along with the plan to shut down the building. He left of his own volition. It is noteworthy that feedback from Senior Officers of the GPF, indicated that Mr. Thomas did not carry out an operational instruction of the Commissioner of Police upon the advice of Commissioner Gunraj. According to the report, Commissioner Gunraj informed the Divisional Commander that as a Commissioner he is higher than the Deputy Chief Election Officer”, Myers stated.
After Commissioner Gunraj departed, Myers said that she returned to the RO’s office for a third time and implored the persons present to leave. By this time, she said that ranks of the Tactical Services Unit were deployed to clear the building of all persons present and the building was shut down until the following day to receive letters of request for recounts.
ACCC
On the matter of eviction of a Commissioner and party representatives from the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), on Monday, 16 March, Myers said upon arrival at the venue around 6 pm to ensure that the rooms were set up for the General and Regional Elections (GRE) recount according to the request made earlier in the day, she saw Commissioner Benn sitting in the lobby of the building.
She said that his sullen response to her query about his reason for being there, was addressed by an apology. He was also informed that the building would be locked for the evening, as is the usual practice of the ACCC management.
“He inquired about the commencement of the recount. My response was that it would not start on Monday as the Secretariat had not been provided with such a directive. He had information that the recount should have started at 16:00hrs to which I was not privy. A question was raised about party representatives in the compound of the ACCC and I informed that there was no provision for agents to watch containers with ballot boxes. In fact, although security matters were discussed when GECOM and CARICOM teams met earlier in the day, the action of party agents watching containers was not discussed.
“I proceeded to check the four identified rooms and the secretariat to serve the recount process along with the Security Liaison and the ACCC Manager. On leaving the building, I encountered three representatives from a few new parties who enquired about the status of the GRE recount. They were informed that information would be forthcoming from the Secretariat as soon as the start date and time were determined. I departed for home. To the best of my knowledge there was no directive to evict Commissioner Benn from the ACCC”, she said.
She prefaced her memo to Singh citing Article 161B of the Constitution of Guyana, which “unambiguously declares `that the role of political parties and their nominees in the conduct of elections by the Elections Commission shall be limited to their participation in determining policy, monitoring the electoral process, but does not include active management of the electoral process.’ Throughout this election cycle this principle was breached, she asserted.
Myers asked that her memo be appended to the minutes of 17 March 2020 GECOM meeting in the interest of fairness.
