GECOM must be more prudent in their spending!

Dear Editor,
Much of the recent events and activities conducted by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) suggest significant wasteful undertakings and by extension, squandered millions of taxpayers’ dollars. The situation is tantamount to the old adage that one must continuously make false statements, to cover-up the initial ‘lies’.

In this respect, the Government has been pathological and the Secretariat a ‘tap-dancer’ hopping and swaying in accommodation to the falsehoods advocated by the PNCR Commissioners and agents in GECOM, rather than the strict legal guidelines.

It follows that for one to entertain any discussions related to the associated unnecessary costs and overtures of expended funds relating to the created ID card saga, it would be extremely provocative. This is given the shallow unsubstantiated claims by PNC Commissioners, particularly, Vincent Alexander to which the Secretariat seemed to, or deliberately fell prey.

In addition, President Granger’s repeated public insinuations have falsely fuelled the thought that free and fair elections could not be had without the contentious House-to-House (H2H) activities. Knowing this to be false, there is no public evidence that the Secretariat under Mr Lowenfield would have moved to disqualify Mr Granger’s position.

Rather, they were happy to lavishly spend on some meaningless activities which only now serve to support delays and create conflicts.

While GECOM’s autonomy allows the organisation to disqualify Mr Granger and his cabal’s unqualified tantrums, this obviously has not happened in every sphere of activity warranting such assertiveness. This is baring the halt of the unnecessary H2H, and the decision not to support the disenfranchisement of thousands of voters because they did not uplift ID cards by Chairperson Justice (retired), Claudette Singh.

The nation has seen the deliberate delaying tactics of the APNU/AFC. Citizens must, therefore, hold David Granger accountable for his seemingly planned false alarms and dangerous advocacy that the Register of Registrants is bloated with over two hundred thousand names. Granger’s false claims about these numbers are not a first; cannot be substantiated, and therefore is emphatically dangerous. It is clear that in the context, he must be looked at as a person who must not be trusted. Further, it is President Granger’s unconstitutional unilateral appointment of the clearly unfit James Patterson as Chairman of GECOM which has set the tone of this current enigma, that is most dangerous for Guyana.

It is rational for one to accept that the Granger Administration has demonstrated an overwhelming clandestine intent which, on the one hand, argues that young people would be disenfranchised without the H2H and only this approach would get rid of the apparent bloated 200,000. On the other hand, they have wickedly tried to remove thousands of legitimate voters in Region Five.

Thankfully, GECOM did not fall for their willy-nilly diabolical efforts and the complainant should have been prosecuted. Regarding the PNC’s objections of over fourteen thousand names on the Preliminary Voters’ List, of which they were unable to prove, this must be looked at by all Guyanese. GECOM staff in this respect must be commended for not wasting time and throwing out the more than 13,000 objections.

It is the view of various public stakeholders that tens of millions of dollars were spent on the “truncated, unverified, PNC-driven H2H” Registration, which should have never commenced in the absence of a GECOM Chairman. It is, therefore, imperative that GECOM account to the nation how much money was spent and wasted on Lowenfield’s accommodation of the PNC delaying tactics of dodging from the impending elections.

It is also the view of many, that the recently truncated H2H Registration was indeed a designed milking cow for GECOM funds, and an avenue to defend the unrealistic spending by the Secretariat headed by Lowenfield. The need for a forensic audit of this organisation is therefore strongly necessary to qualify or justify the unaccounted and unappropriated expenditures.

The labour costs expected for the Claims and Objections exercises were supposed to be the most important expenditures. However, reports suggest that other expenditures were of similar standing. Transportation and meal took a substantive amount from the allocation.

It suggests that GECOM is one of the highest-paid entities in this country, with one of the most inefficient management complement. This is perhaps one of the reasons for irrational and illogical and illegal advice from the Secretariat to the Commission.

The Head of the Secretariat is guilty of ill-advising the Chairman on almost every front, and he continues to make decisions without the Commission’s approval. One would recall the Secretariat’s increase during the period of the Claims and Objection exercise despite the Commission’s decision which was otherwise.

It was just recently that the Secretariat pronounced that the verification of everyone on the Preliminary List, had to be done before their names could be on the Revised List of Electors. Was this intended to stretch the time of the activity and spend more taxpayers’ money? Thankfully, this misnomer was corrected by Chairperson Justice Retired Claudette Singh. These misguided and mischievous actions are in the DNA of Lowenfield’s Secretariat.

Justice Singh has to also look at the beastly expenditure of the Secretariat as she grapples with bringing the organisation in line.

Sincerely,
Neil Kumar