After a three-year delay, the trial into alleged electoral fraud by former senior functionaries of the country’s elections body is now set to begin on July 29 before City Magistrate Leron Daly.
The trial faced numerous delays but is now clear to begin following a ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George.
She ruled that the constitutional rights of former Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and his Deputy Roxanne Myers to a fair trial would not be violated by the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits disclosure of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) meetings.
With this ruling, Magistrate Daly received the green light to proceed with hearing and determining the 28 criminal charges related to the 2020 elections.
On Wednesday, the case was brought before Magistrate Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for reports.
During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC, confirmed that the matter is ready to move forward.
The hearings are scheduled for July 29-31 and August 5-6, 2024.
Notable witnesses expected to testify include Minister of Local Government Sonia Parag, Head of the Diaspora Unit Rosalinda Rasul, former Region Four Police Commander Edgar Thomas, and Forensic Investigator Rawle Nedd.
The prosecution has already handed over certified copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs), video interviews, and several other documents.
The trial will see attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes representing former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, and former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield. Other GECOM staff facing charges include Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller, all accused of allegedly defrauding Guyanese voters by declaring false vote counts.
Additionally, two politicians, former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Chairperson Volda Lawrence and PNC/R activist Carol Smith-Joseph, are also charged.
The defendants are accused of inflating or facilitating the inflation of results for Region Four, the country’s largest voting district, to falsely give the APNU+AFC coalition a majority win.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was ultimately declared winner of the elections, leading to the swearing-in of Dr Irfaan Ali as President of Guyana.