In a revealing interview on CGID President, Rickford Burke’s podcast, Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Attorney Nigel Hughes, laid bare the complete dysfunction and lack of preparedness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) ahead of the upcoming elections. Hughes’ revelations paint a damning picture of an institution riddled with internal conflict, subterfuge, and a shocking disregard for transparency and accountability.
Hughes began by dismantling the myth of GECOM’s independence. “The way the Electoral Commission is established, it’s not an independent body,” Hughes stated. “You have three commissioners appointed by the government, three by the opposition, and one person in the chair. This is not an independent electoral body like you see in other countries.”
Describing a recent meeting with GECOM as “the most surreal” experience of his life, Hughes detailed the utter chaos that unfolded. “We had a team of seven who attended that meeting. The entire GECOM was there, some online, with two government commissioners present. It was complete and total disarray,” Hughes said.
A particularly alarming incident involved the case of Asha Kissoon, whose presence in Parliament was reportedly a GECOM error. When questioned, GECOM’s legal officer admitted the mistake, but commissioners were quick to contradict each other in a public display of discord. “The chair said she got no mandate from her commission, but the commissioners almost unanimously contradicted her. This is the same body that is supposed to manage our elections,” Hughes pointed out.
The incompetence didn’t stop there. Hughes recounted how the GECOM Chair extended the contract of the Chief Elections Officer (CEO) without consulting the commission, despite having placed it on the agenda for discussion. “Do you understand the level of subterfuge? The chair goes behind the back of the commission and extends the CEO’s contract for three years. How can you rely on anything from such a commission?” Hughes questioned.
Hughes also criticized GECOM’s refusal to implement biometric systems that could ensure election integrity. Drawing comparisons to Ghana, which managed to conduct biometric registration for 16 million voters in just two and a half months, Hughes highlighted GECOM’s glaring inadequacies. “If Ghana, with 31 million people, can do it, why can’t Guyana? Biometrics would at least provide a verifiable basis to examine GECOM’s announced results,” Hughes argued.
Hughes made a clear distinction between using biometrics as a voting prerequisite and as a tool for verifying election results. “If you can’t do the first because of legal issues, then the second must be done. When GECOM announces results, we should be able to verify that people didn’t vote multiple times. Without this, how can anyone trust the results?”
Perhaps the most shocking revelation was GECOM’s refusal to conduct any review of its widely criticized handling of the 2020 elections. “You’re not going to believe this. They didn’t even try to dodge the question. The Chairman, the CEO—they all admitted they did nothing to review their conduct. How can they claim readiness for 2025 when they haven’t even examined what went wrong in 2020?” Hughes exclaimed.
Hughes emphasized that the root of electoral controversies in Guyana since 1992 has been GECOM itself. “The problem with every election from 1992 is that it has never been accepted by the losing party, and the cause has always been GECOM’s failures. They can’t absolve themselves.”
With the 2025 elections looming, Hughes issued a stern warning. “This is the same body you want us to trust to run an election? They refuse biometrics, they haven’t reviewed their past failures, and they can’t even agree on basic facts among themselves. It’s almost embarrassing.”
The public now awaits GECOM’s response to these damning allegations. Hughes and the AFC have called for the release of the audio recordings from the recent meeting, promising that the truth will further expose GECOM’s incompetence. Until then, the credibility of Guyana’s electoral process remains in serious jeopardy.
