Acting Chief Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty today adjourned the Elections Fraud Case to March 27, 2026 after two weeks of taking evidence.

The case, which is being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, resumed on February 16 after a two month break, with witnesses including former, PPP Election Agent, now Ambassador to Brussels, Sasenarine Singh and former GECOM Commissioner, Robeson Benn taking the stand.

Benn, who appeared as a witness for the first time in the matter, told the Court that the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Election was conducted with little to no hiccup.

At the time of the Election, he was among the six Elections Commissioners serving on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and had played a key role in authenticating the Statements of Poll (SOPs) as they were submitted to the Office of the Region Four Returning Officer (RO).

The Court heard that the Election Commissioners were responsible for authenticating the SOPs. To do so, they used an ultraviolet (UV) light to locate a watermark hidden on the SOP. That process, according to Benn, took approximately two days.

He told the Court that initially, the tabulation process at the centre went smoothly, but it was “interrupted” after the then Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo fell ill on March 4.

Benn, who was present at the building at the time, testified that upon learning of Mingo’s illness, he left the authentication process, and met with the then Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.

Lowenfield, according to him, indicated that he had not seen Mingo. “He said he didn’t know where Mingo was,” Benn told the .

However, Benn said minutes later, he saw Mingo being wheeled out of the Chief Election Officer’s Office. “He looked frail, and not much of himself and people were concerned how things would go forward granted his condition,” Benn testified.

According to him, he indicated to Lowenfield that Dr. Frank Anthony – a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) agent was present in the building along with other medical doctors, and could take a look at the sick Returning Officer, but that proposal was shut down.

 “He refused. He said that he had enough medical people here,” Benn recalled.  He said an ambulance later arrived, and Mingo was “wheeled out.”

According to Benn, later that afternoon, Mingo returned to the Ashmin’s Building and resumed his position, however, there were major concerns regarding the tabulation process.

“Later that afternoon Mr. Mingo reappeared, resumed his position, the tabulation started again but this time as the numbers were being called and inputted, there was great disagreement with the persons on the opposition side with respect of the numbers being called. Those numbers did not match the numbers that they had in their Statements of Poll or in their summaries,” Benn told the Court.

According to him, he personally observed the process. He said Sasenarine Singh, who was a People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) agent at the time objected to the numbers that were being called out in relation to votes cast in favor of the various political parties.  He said amid fierce objections from the opposition parties, the Election Officers attempted to continue the process.

He said agents for the then ruling A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) were silent during the uproar over the discrepancies. He said at the time, the Election Officers were using a spreadsheet at the time to tabulate the votes, although the SOPs were available.

Benn is expected to return to the witness box when the case resumes later in March.  

Related posts:

TCI 2020 Presidential Candidate testifies of widespread discrepancies as 2020 Election Fraud case resumes Prosecution and Defence haggle over witness wanting to submit additional statement in Election fraud case Election Fraud case restarts as first witness is called and additional Prosecution and Defence Attorneys make appearance Election fraud case adjourned to May 29 as High Court continues to hear Constitutional issues