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Kidackie Amsterdam, host of ‘Buxtonian Morning Time’ show and member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), was today arrested by the police for using a bullhorn during protest exercise for a clean voters list. Amsterdam along with other Guyanese were protesting in High Street, Georgetown, within the vicinity of the headquarters of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).
Guyanese have been using Tuesdays to demand GECOM Commissioners sanitise the list before returning to elections. Commissioners meet on Tuesday for statutory meeting. Local Government Elections are scheduled for March 13, 2023. Guyanese would be returning to the polls with the same bloated list.
Observers view the arrest of Amsterdam as a signal of government’s intensified efforts to silent dissent and citizens’ demands for a credible list, credible elections and credible results. One observer said the arrest of Amsterdam is an erosion of rights and political bullyism. “People can’t even protest now for their rights or express their feelings without having to fear they could be arrested or killed,” chimed in another.
Bystander Sharon told Village Voice, Amsterdam’s arrest is a chilling reminder of the late political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing who used a bullhorn in his one-man protest. Crum-Ewing’s protest for the return of the rule of law was aimed at Attorney General Anil Nandlall and took place in front of the Attorney General’s Chambers.
On 10th March 2015, the 40-year-old who was gunned down at Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD). According to reports, his bullet-riddled body and bull-horn were found at Third Avenue, Diamond New Scheme. He was shot twice to the temple, once to the back of the head, and twice to the stomach.
A statement issued by the police said Crum-Ewing was accosted by four men in a car, one of whom discharged several rounds, hitting him about the body. It was also reported the killer(s) used a .32 pistol to execute him and he died as a result of haemorrhage and shock due to multiple gunshot wounds. Regan “Grey Boy” Rodrigues who was charged for the murder was acquitted in April 2021 on a no-case submission.
Without exception all observers to the 2020 General and Regional Elections expressed concern about the bloated list and recommended the pursuit of corrective actions. Here are some comments:
From CARICOM Report on the Recount (page 50)
“As a minimum condition of electoral reform, the Team recommends the urgent need for the total re-registration of all voters in Guyana. It is clear that given the state of the voter registration of the country that Guyana was not adequately prepared for the 2020 poll. Yet circumstances beyond the control of the Commission precluded this preparedness. It therefore behooves the Commission to create a new voter registry especially given the suspicion that the 2020 register was bloated, a suspicion which is not without merit.”
From the Preliminary Report of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission (pages 7 to 8):
The Mission recommends:
- Comprehensive reform of the voter registration system, along with the necessary legislative authorizations for registration, changes to voter lists and submission of complaints about the exclusion or inclusion of voters.
- Undertaking a House-to-House registration exercise at the earliest opportunity upon completion of the election and periodically thereafter.
From the Carter Centre – final election report:
“The number of registered voters seems disproportionate to Guyana’s estimated population. The Carter Center recommends that before the next election the government reassess and overhaul both the process and the technology used to create and manage the voter registration database.”
The Carter Centre also advised the nation to determine whether continuous registration was meant to end the practice of periodic house-to-house registration exercises. It also called for an assessment of the long-term consequences of the Chief Justice’s August 2019 ruling on residency.
From the European Union Election Observation Mission – Guyana 2020:
On page 16 of its report, the EU team, relying on 2020 registration statistics, highlighted the
“… clear limitations in the ability of the existing continuous registration system to maintain an up-to-date, accurate register.”
