Complaint against GECOM commissioner by private sector settled amicably
-Ethnic Relations Commission
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Captain Gerald Gouveia and Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) commissioner, Desmond Trotman, have reached a cordial settlement following a dispute stemming from a July 24, 2019 letter.
In a press release yesterday from the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) it was noted that an investigation was completed as a result of complaints made by the PSC and its chairman, Gerald Gouveia. It was noted that the complaints stemmed from a letter written by Trotman to Gouveia on July 24, 2019. The ERC in its release noted that as a result a subcommittee was appointed on November 8 to investigate the complaints. The committee’s mandate was to “establish the facts of what transpired and why,” and was led by ERC member, retired Justice Stanley Moore.
As a result it was noted that both parties have arrived at an amicable settlement.
Last August, the PSC came out and condemned what they saw as an overt racist attack on the PSC’s chairman by the government-appointed GECOM commissioner. In their statement at that time, the PSC noted that the commissioner’s behaviour had no place in GECOM or a democratic society.
In a statement which was issued through the ERC yesterday, Commissioner Trotman stated that he would have responded to a letter written by Gouveia and addressed to Chief Election Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, which contained inaccuracies, the statement said. Adding, “If left uncorrected, could possibly have an adverse effect upon the work of GECOM and thus adversely affect the public interest”. According to Trotman, Lowenfield’s public response to Gouveia’s showed that he too believed that there was need to respond to the criticisms of GECOM contained in the PSC chairman’s letter.
However, Trotman said that while crafting his response, he was unaware that the CEO had already responded. “Unfortunately, in my response, I erred in identifying Gouveia’s ancestry as that of the plantocracy and the slave-owning class and therefore mistakenly attributed their traits to him,” the commissioner said in a statement. Trotman then stated that he withdraws all the attributions.
In response, chairman of the PSC, Gouveia stated that the letter which he sent to the CEO was composed by several members of the PSC and represented the views of the organisation instead of his personal view. Gouveia in a statement issued through the ERC added that he holds the CEO “in the highest regard”.
With that, he said he has seen the statement made by Trotman withdrawing the remarks and has accepted it. “I accept unreservedly his withdrawal of the remarks associating me and my Portuguese forebears with the misdoings of Massa during the period of slavery and indenture in British Guiana” he said in the statement. He further added that he is confident that both he and Trotman can put the incident behind them and play their respective roles in advancing the development of the country.
According to the ERC, the “peaceful settlement” of the dispute shows that the commission has the mechanisms and capability of working to restore “harmony and peace.”