Following a ruling by the Court, the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union (GPSCCU) has issued a notice that it will convene a special general meeting on October 24th that is expected to see elections for a new executive.
“Pursuant to the Co-operatives Societies Act, Cap 88:01, Regulation 16, Notice is hereby given that a Special General Meeting of Members of the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union Ltd… will be held on Monday 24th October 2022, in the auditorium of the new Central High School, Princes Street, George-town, Guyana at 8:00hrs,” the notice signed by Chairperson of the Management Committee Karen Vansluytman-Corbin stated.
Monday, October 24th, 2022 is also the Diwali national holiday.
While there was no agenda for the meeting, the notice also informs that it is Vansluytman-Corbin who will be presiding over it.
Last month, High Court Judge Navindra Singh declared that members of the GPSCCU were entitled to demand a special general meeting and refuted arguments of the Vansluytman-Corbin-led management committee.
Against this background, the Court ordered the Committee of Manage-ment to schedule a new general meeting to be held no later than October 24th, 2022.
Recognizing that Trevor Benn and Patrick Mentore were the duly elected Chairman and Vice-Chair-man of the credit union respectively, the Judge went on to find that the notice informing of the demand for the meeting which had been set for June 25th of this year, had been lawfully issued.
In his judgment, Justice Singh noted that Regula-tion 16 of the Cooperative Society Act permits the applicants as members of the Cooperative Society to demand a special general meeting.
He went on to declare, among other things, that the Applicants had satisfied the requirement of the number needed to present a demand, being in excess of 25 members; and found further that the management committee (the Respondents) were being disingenuous by stating that the Applicants had not satisfied that requirement.
The case involved three members of the GPSCCU who had petitioned the Court for declarations that Benn and Mentore were the credit union’s duly elected Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and that a Special General Meeting of Members which had been scheduled for June 25th, 2022; be allowed.
After seeking to remove Benn, the management committee itself came under pressure when over 375 members moved for the removal of the entire body and the announcement of new elections within 14 days. That number had increased to nearly 2,000.
The committee and its members have been at loggerheads over a No-Confidence Motion the committee said it brought against Benn.
