Justice Navindra Singh yesterday ruled that Chief Cooperatives Development Officer (CCDO) of the Ministry of Labour Janaknauth Panchu is restrained from intervening in the elections of the new Committee of Management (COM) at the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU).
This means that the newly elected members of the COM, led by Chairman Trevor Benn can physically occupy the GPSCCU building in Hadfield Street, Georgetown and act in their designated roles.
Benn, when contacted yesterday, confirmed that the new COM, which includes himself, met with Chief Executive Officer of GPSCCU Adiola Smart, Administrative Manager Shona Smart, Credit Manager Nerissa Sam and Finance Manager Nyozi Fraser to apprise them of the High Court ruling.
He said when the COM members entered the boardroom they were surprised to see Saskia Eastman-Onwuzirike, a former member under the previous COM led by Karen Vanslutyman-Corbin, sitting in one of the chairs. Benn said it was presumptuous for Eastman to even be seen on the premises, since she was fully aware of the court’s order, which stated that the previous COM, which she was a part of, was removed from office.
Justice Singh in his ruling, which was disseminated to the media by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde, one of the attorneys representing the applicants, stated that the newly elected members of the credit union must be permitted to take up their roles and the CCDO has no jurisdiction in the matter.
The court document stated that anyone who was displeased or aggrieved by the decision must approach the court separately.
Justice Singh also chided Senior Counsel Neil Boston for allowing his clients to disregard the results of the court-ordered elections. The judge posited that the matter must come to cessation as it has been protracted.
The ruling stated that the elections, as ordered by the court, and held on Saturday, March 2nd, this year, “must be presumed to have been validly held”.
Justice Singh stipulated that having received the highest number of votes at the elections, Benn, Patrick Mentore, Eslyn Harris, Rajdai Jagarnauth, Vanessa Kissoon, Mehalai McAlmont, Christopher Thompson, John Anderson, Judah Louisy, Kirk Fraser, Candace Enmore and
Beverly De John now form the new COM. Further, Benn – chairman, Mentore – vice-chairman, Harris – secretary and Jagarnauth – treasurer, now form its executive:
The ruling also stated that Gillian Pollard, Saskia Eastman-Onwuzirike, Arthur Gibbs, Charles Ogle, Ruth Howard, Leslyn Noble, Jermain Hermanstyne, Michelle Davis and Van Sluytman-Corbin, members of the former COM who were removed from office were also restrained from preventing the newly elected COM from taking up office.
The applicants were represented by Forde and Christopher Thompson, while the respondents were represented by Boston and Siand Dhurjon. Panchu was represented by Attorneys -at-law Alyea Williams and Jinelle Thomas.
On March 2, this year, Benn received the most votes in the long-awaited GPSCCUL elections. Voting by thousands took place both online and in person at the Critchlow Labour College, where over 300 people were present to vote physically, while ROSE IT Services Limited, a Trinidad-based IT company, facilitated the platform for online voters.
Vanslutyman-Corbin later wrote to Panchu claiming that the Special General Meeting on March 2 to elect the new COM was unlawful.
Panchu then wrote to Mentore, outlining the allegations made by Vanslutyman-Corbin and the other members of the former committee. He had asked Mentore to provide a list of all who attended the meeting both virtually and in-person as well as a list of those who voted.
Panchu further advised that unless the information requested was provided, Mentore and other members “must refrain from assuming the duties of the Committee of Management or transact any business whatsoever on behalf of the credit union.”
Mentore was also asked to provide further information which could substantiate that Regulations 17 and 21 of the Co-operatives Societies Act were complied with.
Vanslutyman-Corbin, whose faction opposed Benn, had told the media that there were some 300 people present at the Critchlow Labour College auditorium and Rose IT Services had advised that the online platform could only accommodate up to 3,000 online. She had argued that there was no quorum and therefore the proceedings were in violation of the law.
