Dear Editor,
According to reports in the Stabroek News the junior Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe has acknowledged receiving complaints from many villages of irregularities in the recently held elections. Some villages also lamented the fact that no financial audits were carried out in their villages before the elections which would have exposed corrupt Toshaos and council members who were voted back into office. Ironically those very Toshaos are now rewarded with duty free concessions for vehicles which incidentally should have been offered for the benefit of the community rather than one individual. It would have been more beneficial to raise the stipend of Toshaos to the new minimum wage since most of them do not have the financial capacity to import vehicles and some may be tempted to act as conduits for the acquisition of same by affiliates who can afford them.
The Minister stated that because of other obligations it has not been possible for her to visit all the villages to address the issues. By prolonging the investigation into the complaints the Minister is trampling on the rights of the Indigenous people, and once again the new government can be accused of ignoring the Amerindian Act 2006 which incorporates provisions to address complaints arising out of the elections in a timely manner.
To put it in a nutshell, Section 75(2) stipulates that the Minister shall either (a) dismiss the complaints or (b) establish a committee to investigate the complaints. That committee shall be comprised of one individual nominated by the Minister, one by the National Toshaos Council, one by the Regional Democratic Council and one by the District Council (if any). That committee shall present its findings to the Minister within one month of being appointed.
Most of the complaints were about persons voting who were not eligible to do so. This should not have occurred because the Act provides for the displaying of an electoral list in every village at least sixty days before the elections to be scrutinized by villagers allowing them to present oral or written complaints to the village council if not satisfied. In its haste to conduct elections the government has ignored that section of the Act and now has to go into correction mode.
It is quite interesting to see how the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry will handle the complaints because it is quite obvious that the Amerindian Act 2006 is not an option it will use to address the issues. It would have been more worthwhile if the government had been taken to court by persons claiming to be representatives of the Indigenous People for breaching most of the provisions in the Act with respect to the recently held elections, than for terminating the stipends of community support officers which in my opinion is baseless and a waste of money. This is enough reason and evidence for the elections to be declared null and void.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Fitzpatrick
