Despite findings by the Auditor General to the contrary, Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Keith Lowenfield is maintaining that the entity did not deviate from procurement rules in the acquisition of items ahead of the 2015 general elections.
“We have gone through all the correct procedures in our procurement arrangements, we haven’t deviated,” Lowenfield told Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.
The finding of the investigations, which pertain to the purchase of radio sets, the acquisition of ink toners and cartridges and the procurement of 2,400 nippers/pliers in 2015, have raised eyebrows and exposed serious breaches of procurement rules. These include apparent contract splitting, the supply of goods before a contract was signed and in one case the appearance of a fake quotation purporting to come from a company interested in supplying radio sets.
According to Lowenfield, there is
