Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Opposition-nominated Commissioner, Desmond Trotman, has issued a stern call for accountability, slamming both GECOM and the Ministry of Finance for failing to implement salary increases for 2024—nearly five months after the official deadline.
In a strongly worded public letter, Trotman expressed frustration over what he described as “deafening silence” from officials regarding salary adjustments agreed upon in December 2024. Under the agreement between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Public Service Union, public servants and members of constitutional agencies, including GECOM, were to receive a 10% salary increase effective December 16, 2024, and an additional 8% in 2025.
Trotman, who has served as a GECOM Commissioner since 2017, said he raised the issue of the commissioners’ allowance increase at a statutory meeting in March, where the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud, informed the Commission that approval for the 10% increase had been granted by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance. However, the CEO added that payments may not have yet been processed, despite instructions for them to be retroactive if delayed.
“The Commission is now awaiting approval from the Finance Secretary, Mr. Sukrishnalall Pasha, who has reportedly been unresponsive to GECOM’s queries,” Trotman said.
He pointed to an official circular dated December 10, 2024, from the Finance Secretary to all heads of budget and constitutional agencies. The document, according to Trotman, “clearly spells out the steps and timelines to be adhered to” for salary adjustments, with no indication that GECOM was exempt from compliance.
“If it is true that the relevant payments are being frustrated by the Finance Secretary’s non-response, GECOM cannot now abrogate, as it appears to be doing, its responsibilities to those persons who are yet to be paid as per the agreement,” he wrote.
Trotman warned that continued delays are unacceptable and demanded immediate action. “May 2025 is now upon us. Five months after directives were given to effect payments for 2024, this is yet to be done,” he said. “Action is needed and is needed now.”
