Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. took the stand today at the Elections Commission of Inquiry hearing and testified that the Police blocked him from submitting his request for a recount of the votes cast in Region Four.
Ramson said another attempt to submit his request was met with threats including death threats and abusive language from a group of APNU+AFC supporters who he described as a “mob”.
Minister Ramson, who was an agent for his party at the last elections, explained that moments after the Region Four Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo ‘declared’ the results of the votes cast in Region Four on March 5, he attempted to submit a request for a recount but was blocked by the police.
“I attempted to serve this letter on Mr Mingo who was already up on the top floor [but] I was blocked by police officers who were manning the stairway,” Minister Ramson told the Commission. According to him, he was denied access though he had identified himself.
Ramson said he waited hours in the Command Centre with the hope of seeing the Returning Officer, but when he finally did, Mr Mingo was being swiftly escorted out the building by the police.
“I saw him emerged but he was circled by police officers, all in uniform, and they were rapidly escorting him down the backstair way, so another stairway but I can see it because there were glass doors that you can see portions of when he was moving, so I ran with the letter, which I had still had in my possession to serve him, and when we opened one of the doors moving into one of the sections, but still a little way from him, police officers stopped me once again,” he further detailed.
Minister Ramson explained that he was statutorily required to submit a request for a recount within 24 hours of the declaration, and as such, time was of the essence. He said in an attempt to meet the deadline, he sent copies of the letter of request to the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh; the then Chief Elections Officer, Keith Lowenfield and the Returning Officer but those messages were met with no response.
He said after his attempts to submit the request on March 5 failed, he returned to the GECOM Command Centre on Hadfield and High Streets on March 6 but found the building shut. According to him, the steel shutters were down and barricades had been erected around the premises.
He said to compound the situation, there was a large group of APNU+AFC supporters hurling insulting remarks at him.
“To get in there, there was a mob outside of the Ashmins Building but maybe about a hundred meters away, and on attempting to get in there, that was when there was a lot of threatening happening, a lot of abusive behavior,” he said
In support of his claims, Minister Ramson provided the Commission with a video recording with someone threatening him. He said though police ranks were present, they did nothing.
He said he was eventually allowed access to the Command Centre along with Lenox Shuman of the Liberty and Justice Party, to submit the recount request.
During his testimony, Minister Ramson also recalled seeing Election Commissioner Charles Corbin huddling the GECOM Chairman, in an attempt to prevent persons from approaching her after Mr Mingo had made his first attempt at a declaration.
“He was effectively engulfing her moving from side to side. I remembered this distinctly because it was one of the most peculiar as well as disturbing things that I saw,” Minister Ramson told the Commission.
He said the GECOM Chairman was being “engulfed” by the Election Commissioner though there was no visible threat. In fact, he said there were mostly GECOM officials, party agents, local and international observers, and diplomats present at the time.
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