Guyana’s High Court on Monday delivered another debilitating blow to the Irfaan Ali/Jagdeo administration, in their continuing bid to remove Trevor Benn and his administration from the helm of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union.
Justice Navindra Singh has ordered that the newly elected Public Service Credit Union Committee Members must take office unencumbered by the CCDO.Led by Senior Counsel Roysdale Forde and attorney-at-law Christopher Thompson, the High Court delivered yet another victory to Mehalai Mc Almont et al, who have been in a two-year battle to ensure the Guyana Public Service Credit Union members exercise their right to elect leaders of their choice.
Justice Navindra Singh ordered that “the elections of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union held on March 02, 2024, at the Critchlow Labour College, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown, as ordered by the Court via Order of Court dated and entered on the 06th day of February 2024, in the matter must be presumed to have been validly held.”
In light of this, the High Court ruled that the newly elected Public Service Credit Union Committee Members must now take office.
Justice Singh also ordered that the following persons who received the highest number of votes at the elections held at the Special General Meeting of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union held on March 02, 2024, now forms the new Committee of Management (COM) of the organization:
1) Mr. Trevor Benn
2) Mr. Patrick Mentore
3) Ms. Eslyn Harris
4) Ms. Rajdai Jagarnauth
5) Ms. Vanessa Kissoon
6) Ms. Mehalai McAlmont
7) Mr. Christopher Thompson
8) Dr. John Anderson
9) Mr. Judah Louisy
10) Mr. Kirk Fraser
11) Ms. Candace Enmore
12) Ms. Beverly De John
According to the court, “the new Committee of Management Management elected at the Special General Meeting of having met on March 04, 2024, at the Society’s boardroom and elected its executive pursuant to Regulations 22, 47 and 53 of the Regulations made under the Co-operative Societies Act, Cap. 88:01, and Rule 43 of the Rules of the Society, the following members of the said Committee of Management now form its executive:
1) Mr. Trevor Benn – Chairman
2) Mr. Patrick Mentore – Vice-Chairman
3) Ms. Eslyn Harris – Secretary
4) Ms. Rajdai Jagarnauth – Treasurer
Justice Singh observed that the Chief Cooperative Development Officer has no authority to prohibit or prevent the elected Committee of Management from assuming their respective offices.
In addition, the court said:“the Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union, and in her absence, the Society’s Finance and Accounting Manager, Administrative Manager, and Credit and Customer Service Manager, jointly and severally, be and is hereby directed to act in accordance with the directions and instructions of the newly elected Committee of Management of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union duly elected at the Special General Meeting of the First-Named Respondent held on March 02, 2024, at the Critchlow Labour College, Woolford Avenue, Georgetown.”
In an invited comment, senior counsel Roysdale Forde, who represented tbe applicants, said he is pleased with the ruling. In expressing his satisfaction with Justice Kissoon’s ruling, Forde said “it not only confirms the importance of an unfettered judiciary in society, the right of citizens to judicial recourse but also the importance of upholding the Rule of Law.” Monday was another great day for Guyana’s judiciary and the Guyanese people, Forde asserted.
Benn, an Afro-Guyanese, was removed as Chair in April 2022 at a Management Committee meeting following a no-confidence vote without his knowledge or opportunity given to him for a hearing to defend himself. He became aware of his removal after the fact.
Benn’s removal had given rise to growing concerns among members of the credit unions, trade unionists and others in society, that the PPP/C government was moving in to take control of the workers’ credit unions which is dominated by the small man, primarily African Guyanese.
Persons saw this as the government wanting to take away members’ independence to manage their savings and other assets without political interference.
The matter was taken to the Supreme court and on July 19 acting Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire granted the order of certiorari, quashing the decision of the Chief Co-operative Development Officer (CCDO) to direct the Credit Union to dismiss Mr. Trevor Benn as its Chairman.
The Chief Justice also granted an order of prohibition, prohibiting the CCDO from proceeding to require the Credit Union to dismiss Mr. Benn as its Chairman.
The court reasoned that the CCDO came to her decision in breach of the rule of natural justice and without conducting a full and proper investigation of the circumstances.
The court also noted that reference to criminal charges Benn is currently facing tends to suggest that the CCDO concluded that the Chairman was a criminal and found the CCDO did not adhere to the principle of presumption of innocence.
When Bharrat Jagdeo was Leader of the Opposition and leader of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), he repeatedly threatened that when his party got back into government, a number of persons would be jailed.
Among the persons Jagdeo repeatedly named, was the then Commissioner of Lands and Survey in the APNU+AFC government, Trevor Benn. The PPP/C regime had followed through on their threat by announcing that they would be reviewing all transactions regarding the sale of State lands under the APNU+AFC administration from December 21, 2018.
The APNU+AFC administration had fallen to a no-confidence motion on December 21, 2018 and therefore, according to the PPP/C, should not have been involved in any such governance transactions. In fact, the PPP/C government is maintaining that the Coalition APNU+AFC administration should have been in caretaker mode, preparing for snap elections.
Having won the controversial 2020 elections, one of the first persons the new government hauled into court on misconduct charges was….you got it, Trevor Benn!
Benn was removed from the post with effect from February 4, 2021 by the Ali/Jagdeo regime as promised. However, the court is yet to rule on the allegations leveled against him by the Ali/Jagdeo regime. (WiredJA)