Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo was on Monday morning placed on $600,000 bail when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on four counts of charges stemming from alleged malpractice in the March 2,2020 elections.
The charges against Mingo have been described as vexatious and trumped up.
Mingo was detained last Tuesday on allegations of forgery. His continued arrest drew large protest in his home village Belladrum.
The allegation against Mingo was brought against him and People’s National Reform (PNC) Chairperson, Volda Lawrence by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, for their alleged involvement in a forged Elections document with the intent to defraud the public, contrary to the criminal law Offences Act.
While Lawrence had attended Court last Monday, Mingo was not served until Tuesday. Since the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) resumed power on August 2, 2020, several Afro-Guyanese have been dragged before the Courts in relation to charges of alleged electoral fraud and more a development which has been brought to the attention of the United States (US) Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). The Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) last week appraised Members of the CBC about the PPP/C’s “war against Afro-Guyanese” and included reports on the “abuse of the police and criminal justice system” and the “ethnic cleansing” of over 123 Afro-Guyanese from the government service.
