Dear Editor,
I crave your indulgence to respond to Mr. Rohee`s letter of April 10, 2023 under the caption “Opposition commissioners preferred practices would have caused harm to a free and fair electoral process”. That letter was ostensibly intended to respond to my previous letter captioned “Proclaimed state of readiness for LGE attributable to Opposition Commission-ers”, which outlined the positions taken by the Opposition nominated Commissioners that ensured that GECOM followed the right procedures in preparing for the elections. Notably, Rohee`s letter does not respond to any of the questions that I posed in my letter of April 7, 2023 nor does it refute any of my rubbishing of his eight points. Why then am I responding to his letter?
I am simply responding to expose Rohee`s propensity for falsehood in his public pronouncements on things GECOM. My single example is his insistence that the Opposition appointed Commissioners “ignored the travesty they committed when they sat to give a free pass to Roxanne Myers, who did not possess the necessary years of experience at GECOM to perform the functions of a DCEO.” He sought to contend that Ms. Myers did not have the experience required for the job.
In 2018, the GECOM advertisement for the position of DCEO read thus: “Post Graduate Degree in Social Sciences along with three (3) years’ experience in management of a widely dispersed organization.” There was no dispute in 2018 that Ms. Myers met that requirement. She was not given a free pass. Her qualifications and experience were superior to the other candidates. In 2021, GECOM`s revised advertisement for the position of DCEO read thus: A Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration … and specific training and verifiable experience in management position overseeing and directing diverse operations aimed at achieving targets within specific deadlines. At least five (5) years` experience in Management of National Elections and Election Systems is a prerequisite requirement.”
Mr. Giddings` application of April 19, 2022 clearly stated that his work experience in electoral management spawned “June 2018 – Present” (3years, 10 months), at that time. At the time of application, he was 1 year, 2 months short of the prerequisite requirement. Even at the time of interview (April, 2023), he was still three months short of the requirement. It is therefore fallacious for Rohee to represent to the public that Myers was favoured and did not meet the requirement. The stipulation of 2018 was different to that of 2021. Ms. Myers met the stipulated experience requirement in 2018.
Mr. Giddings even in the face of the delayed process did not meet the requirement when the interviews were belatedly held. This example of Rohee`s fallacious propaganda exemplifies much of what he says to the public on GECOM, and exposes the travesty of GECOM`s recent recruitment of the DCEO.
Sincerely,
Vincent Alexander
GECOM Commissioner
