Chief Justice (ag.) Roxanne George-Wiltshire S.C. recently ruled that the decision by acting Chief Cooperatives Development Officer (CCDO), Debbie Persaud, to direct the Guyana Public Service Co-operative Credit Union Limited (GPSCCU) to dismiss Trevor Benn as its Chairman was done in breach of the rule of natural justice and without the conduct a full and proper investigation of the circumstances.
According to Village Voice publication, Sunday, August 7, 2022, the court noted that reference to criminal charges Benn is currently facing tended to suggest that the acting CCDO concluded he, in his role as Chair, was a criminal. The Chief Justice also granted an order prohibiting the acting CCDO from proceeding to require the Credit Union to dismiss Benn as its Chairman.
Benn, who was appointed Chair of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Credit Union in 2018 and became Chairman in April of 2021, following a long-delayed Annual General Meeting (AGM), was represented by Attorney-at-law Roysdale Forde S.C.
The former head of the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) was elected Chairman of the Guyana Public Service Cooperative Credit Union (GPSCCU) in April 2021 after his team members won all the spots on the 12-member Committee of Management (CM).
The eight committee members of the Guyana Public Service Credit Union (GPSCU) Management Committee who brought the no-confidence motion against Trevon Benn were accused of colluding with the PPP Government to have him unlawfully removed as Chairman of the GPSCU, by the President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for (CGID) Rickford Burke.
Burke had alleged that the PPP wanted to control the fund of the Credit Union as well as block the Credit Union from giving mortgages and car loans to certain Public Servants, whose membership according to Burke are over 90% African Guyanese.
Benn has been credited for transforming the Credit Union into a viable lending institution that has become the envy of the Private Sector in Guyana and for breaking from tradition. Since his election to the Chairmanship, the Credit Union has been providing services never offered before to the Guyanese people at one of the lowest interest rates in the market.
More, In The Ring.
