Trevor Benn emerged as the top vote getter in the long-awaited Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union Limited (GPSCCUL) elections yesterday after months of feuding and court actions between two factions which continued even through polling.
According to results provided by the GPSCCUL last night, Benn secured 1810 votes. He was followed by Patrick Mentore with 1636, Vanessa Kissoon with 1608, Mehalai Mc Almont with 1504, Christopher Thompson with 1504, John Anderson with 1495, Eslyn Harris with 1490, Judah Louisy with 1408, Kirk Fraser with 1403, Candace Enmore with 1255, Rajdai Jaggernauth with 1201 and Beverly De John with 1133.
Voting by thousands took place both online and in person at the Critchlow Labour College, where over 300 persons were present to vote physically, while ROSE IT Services Limited, a Trinidadian-based IT company, facilitated the platform for online voters.
Prior to the first motion being moved, Karen Vanslutyman-Corbin, whose faction opposes Benn, told the media that there were some 300 persons present at the Critchlow Labour College auditorium for in-person participation in the meeting and Rose IT Services had advised that the online platform could only accommodate up to 3,000 persons online.
She also argued that the motion that was be moved to prohibit her and eight others from being re-elected was illegal since the time had already passed. “After one hour of calling the meeting to order and there was no quorum, the proceedings is in violation of the law [and] anything that happens after now is illegal”, she said.
She then made her way to the front to the Returning Officer, Leyland Lucas, to emphasise her concerns, however, she was told that the proceedings, at least to his knowledge, were legal and that the quorum was met and therefore they would go ahead with the voting.
In the background, members of the union could be heard booing Vanslutyman as she relentlessly persisted in having her concerns heard but she was barred from doing so.
And as she turned to leave, some of those gathered booed and mocked her. They then collectively began chanting “We want Benn.”
Benn was one of the three individuals mandated by the High Court to be included in the process and granted resources to oversee the Special General Members meeting.
The first motion moved was to recall the management committee with 670 persons agreeing, 26 disagreeing, 17 abstaining and 52 not voting at all.
The second motion sought to have nine members prohibited from being reelected to any management position on the committee. 699 member voted yes, 32 members voted no, 33 abstained from voting and 16 members did not participate.
The third and final motion sought the election of a new committee of management 826 persons voted yes, 7 voted no, and 4 abstained from voting while 42 persons did not participate.
With the motions moved, it was time for the election of the twelve-member committee to begin. The nominees were: Paul Clarke, Trevor Benn, Simone Allen, Eslyn Harris, Mahalai Mc Almont, Patrick Mentore, John Anderson, Kirk Fraser, Candace Enmore, Beverly Dejohn, Joel Hinds, Patrick M. Yarde, Christopher Thompson, Judah Louisy, Vanessa Kissoon, Marlon Cole, Rajdai Jaggarnauth, Dwight Dodson, Dawn Gardener, Indira Thakurdin, Loren Park, and Selwyn Griffith.
On February 6th this year, based on an application by Trevor Benn, Patrick Mentore and Rajdai Jagarnauth, Justice Navindra Singh ordered that the elections be held no later than March 10 this year and that $17m be set aside for the purpose of staging the Special General Meeting (SGM).
The recourse by Benn, Mentore and Jagarnauth to the court came after the SGM which had earlier been ordered by Justice Singh for February 5th 2024 was not held in the manner that had been prescribed by the judge.
As a result, Benn, Mentore and Jagarnauth through their lawyer Roysdale Force SC approached the court for an order for the staging of the elections. After hearing both sides, Justice Singh ordered that the date for the holding of the SGM as handed down on December 15th 2023 and entered on December 21st 2023 be extended and that the SGM be held on or before March 10th.
The court also ordered that a budget in the sum of $17m be approved for the purposes of the AGM. The election was eventually fixed for yesterday.
GPSCCUL controls a large amount of money derived from public servants.
