The Auditor General must focus on Gecom’s heavily padded payroll

Dear Editor, The March 2017 exit of Dr Steve Surujbally from the Guyana Election Commission (Gecom) came suddenly and swiftly given his previous indicated resignation, but further questionable prolonged accommodation by the APNU+AFC government. The disquieting departure after this troubled tenure leaves most Guyanese and many members of staff of the organization with more questions than answers.

However, even amidst the tremors of the elections results questioned by the PPP/C with the existence of false Statements of Poll; improper conduct by some Gecom staff; the ongoing court matter; as well as the ongoing audit which indicates many improper undertakings, President Granger requested and authorized that Dr Surujbally stay on to facilitate a “smooth transition”.

Transition to what is the obvious question? So far, there is a frivolous rejection by President Granger of the list of nominees recommended by the Opposition Leader in keeping with Section 161 of the Constitution. At the same time, there is no evidence that Dr Surujbally’s continued presence at the Commission even during his period of annual vacation leave and thereafter, was of any national benefit.

The public media have provided earth shattering news about the millions of taxpayer dollars lost through theft and the serious level of corruption at the Gecom office. The scandalous situation is beyond imagination! Worst of all is the employment of staff chosen to work during the run-in periods. The organization smells of nepotism and favoritism. At the same time, issues related to the padding of the pay-roll at Gecom are daily accusations.

There is a weakened financial accountability system which lacks sufficiently appropriate oversights and counterchecks. Some are calling for a full list of all the persons who were employed during the continuous registration periods, and moreso, the full list of the staff that were employed during the 2015 general and

regional elections and the 2016 local government elections.

In the context, the Auditor General’s report must in addition to the other discovered deficiencies, focus on the heavily padded payroll as there are many indicators that millions of dollars were siphoned off. The facts indicate that Gecom staff were implicated in various improprieties. This position is supported by information received which suggests that expenditures were inconsistent with what was purchased and what was received by the organization.

The deceptive position of ‘information clerks’ to polling stations, was created under the pretext of the necessity for advising and guiding electors, as well as providing information on the respective polling stations where such persons should go to cast their ballots. Instead, some of those assigned as information clerks, were puppets of the APNU+AFC who manipulatively, were positioned to deliberately misguide, misinform and frustrate electors into not casting their ballots, especially in PPP stronghold areas.

These violations are intolerable and the audit should also pronounce on Gecom’s staffing functionality, both permanent and temporary, for which the names, qualifications and background must be made available for scrutiny. In addition, those that were connected to the recent misappropriation and procurement violations must also be revealed and the necessary disciplinary action pursued.

What the situation ultimately confirms is that despite the existing legislation, no one in Gecom should be allowed such power without a leash of appropriate audits and counterchecks. Prior to his historic departure and having refused to call any Commission meetings to discuss matters of more significance and importance, Dr Surujbally unsurprisingly called a special meeting to endorse and renew the employment contract of Mr Lowenfield. It is an attempt at driving nails in the coffins of all who objected to him. It is one that even Dr Surujbally knows would not last and that the power of the people will ultimately prevail.

Finally, in the interest of transparency and balance, the matter of Gecom staff recruitment at both the permanent and temporary levels, must be returned as a Commission function and not a Secretariat function, as was allowed to happen during Dr Surujbally’s tenure at Gecom. Further, the Secretariat and Mr Lowenfield have continuously failed the nation by pursuing a recruitment drive which reflects partisan politics.

Our citizens call for the APNU+AFC government to establish the Local Government Commission now.

Yours faithfully, Neil Kumar