Guyana News

Unrest is continuing at the Region Four Returning Officer’s office on High Street where the votes for the region are still being verified.

Foreign Minister Dr Karen Cummings was today accused of threatening to take away the accreditation of foreign observers amid mounting chaos in the verification of Region Four votes and her words drew a sharp rebuke from the Head of the Commonwealth observer mission, former Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

Verification of the statements of poll (SoPs) for Region Four is to resume today following a major commotion this morning that saw the Police being called in to investigate reports that a data entry clerk had a suspect flash drive and lap top in his possession.

Nine of Guyana’s 10 electoral districts have officially declared the results of the Regional Elections contested on Monday and the opposition PPP/C was leading the incumbent APNU+AFC by over 51,000 with only Demerara-Mahaica to be verified.

Verification of Statements of Poll (SoPs) for Region Four was on hold last night after some staff said they were exhausted, compounding hours of delay earlier in the day when a questionable spreadsheet of results triggered a major controversy and an emergency GECOM meeting.

International observer group, the Carter Center, has called on everyone including political parties to refrain from declaring elections results while the country waits for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to official announce them.

Head of the CARICOM Election Observation Mission to Guyana’s March 2 elections, Cynthia Combie-Martyr has expressed dissatisfaction that previous recommendations to reform the electoral system were never implemented even as Monday’s polls were deemed free and fair.

President David Granger last evening urged supporters to remain patient and await the official declaration of results from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as no one knows the “final scores.”

First Head of the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Guyana, Urmas Paet yesterday cited the APNU+AFC coalition and opposition PPP/C for utilising state resources to campaign for the March 2 general and regional elections.

In a judgment released by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday, a special-leave application to appeal a decision of the Guyana Court of Appeal was rejected in a property case between Rafudeen Nizamudin and Chandroutie Persaud and their son, Javen Nizamudin.

The police in Region 3 are probing the landing of a helicopter at the Ruimzigt, West Coast Demerara seawall and a man who exited the aircraft has since been taken into custody.

Former army Chief of Staff Gary Best, who allegedly struck down and killed cyclist Jude Bentley almost one month ago, has been granted his release on $500,000 bail after being formally charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Echoing a recommendation made over previous electoral cycles, the Commonwealth elections observation mission has called for the reform of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and has also urged that any election-related dispute be expeditiously addressed through appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms.

A 59-year-old gold miner succumbed at a city hospital on Tuesday, days after he was beaten and robbed at Mahdia, Region 8.

A young man now faces sentencing after admitting to raping a 10-year-old girl in an attack in August, 2015 Appearing before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow yesterday morning at the Sexual Offences Court of the High Court in Georgetown, the young man pleaded guilty to two counts of having raped the child on two separate occasions.

Two Sergeants have been charged with defrauding the Guyana Police Force’s Finance Office of over $12.5 million.

The Bar Association of Guyana is praising the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for a job well done and is urging electors to exercise patience and allow the Commission to complete its work.

An Albouystown vendor, who is accused of having 30 grammes of cannabis in his possession for trafficking, was yesterday granted bail in the sum of $30,000 after denying the charge.

Clavil Graham, the 71-year-old mother of a murder convict, was yesterday brought to a city court on a charge of assault after she allegedly threw a liquid at the state prosecutor who secured the conviction.