New GECOM Chairman misled President on CV
GUYANA - Newly appointed Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), James Patterson, has finally admitted to the nation that he never held the substantive post of Chief Justice of Grenada in 1987 as stated in his official curriculum vitae (CV) which President David Granger presented to Opposition leader, Bharrat Jagdeo.
This new information gives rise to new questions about the integrity of Patterson’s appointment, since the President would have used the CV to make his decision on the appointment. Patterson was surrounded by a throng of reporters yesterday when he made the disclosure about his tenure in Grenada, which attracted widespread condemnation and among other things, has overshadowed his appointment.
Since President Granger made the appointment on October 19, Kaieteur News placed several calls to Patterson’s office at GECOM to clarify his Grenada appointment. None of the calls were returned. Following the opening of the 71st Parliament yesterday, Patterson faced questions about his appointment. He could not recall how long he served as the “Acting Chief Justice of Grenada”.
Kaieteur News spoke with several senior legal luminaries who are well known throughout the Caribbean. They confirmed that if one holds an acting position in the judiciary, that person must always include ‘acting’ either before or after the position is stated. It was further pointed out that it would be disingenuous for the person not to indicate clearly that they ‘acted’ in the post. “There have been some serious concerns raised about whether Justice Patterson was ever the Chief Justice of Grenada. Many people have called me about this matter and we are going to dig into it a bit more; we are going to try to confirm it, because that is on his CV that I have received,” Jagdeo had confirmed.
Granger had told the media at Patterson’s swearing-in that Patterson had served as Chief Justice in Grenada. When asked about the brewing controversy days later, President Granger did not repeat the claim, but instead said Justice Patterson was a judge of the High Court of Guyana. “His Curriculum Vitae is not a secret. You can examine it for yourself. He was a judge in Guyana; that’s important,” the President said. Prior to Patterson’s disclosure yesterday, Kaieteur News was unable to verify Justice Patterson’s Grenada claim although there were suggestions that he may have acted briefly in the post.
Records shared with Kaieteur News suggested that Justice Robert Archibald Nedd served as Chief Justice of Grenada from 1979 to 1986. He was succeeded by Sir Denis Byron who acted as Chief Justice until 1987 when Sir Samuel Horatio Graham was appointed substantive Chief Justice.
“All that we are hearing from individuals who work in Grenada, who were lawyers in Grenada during that period said they don’t know about (Patterson),” Jagdeo had noted. The former President had stated that if turns out to be untrue, then Justice Patterson would immediately be disqualified, as it would prevent him from acting impartially and with integrity at GECOM.
(Kaieuteur news)