DPP comes up against Magistrate over PI for Roxanne Myers

Almost one month after Senior Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that she will be conducting a Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the two misconduct charges laid against Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers of the Guyana Elections Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, has filed an appeal against the decision.

On February 11, last, the Magistrate upheld submissions by Myers’ Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes who had asked that the charges against his client remain indictable and for the Magistrate to conduct a PI to determine whether there is sufficient evidence against her to warrant a trial in the High Court.

The matter is scheduled to be called again in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on May 10, 2021.

The charges against Myers alleged that between March 4 and March 14, 2020, in Georgetown, while being a public officer, she wilfully misconducted herself together with Region 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and others, to declare a fraudulent account of votes for the March 2020 General and Regional Elections which amounted to a breach of the public’s trust in the office of the DCEO of GECOM.

She was granted bail in the sum of $300,000 on her first court appearance back in October 2020. Last October, Myers surrendered herself to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown after receiving information that she was wanted for questioning about the events that transpired after the close of polls on March 2, 2020.

She had reportedly evaded investigators for over a month.

After the PPP/C Government took office in August 2020, the Police launched investigations after receiving formal reports of alleged criminal conduct by Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, Myers, Mingo, other GECOM staffers, and members of the APNU/AFC in relation to the March 02, 2020, General and Regional elections and the events that followed thereafter.