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| Supervisor of Elections
Accused of Victimization |
| By Sheena Brooks |
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Supervisor of Elections Leroy Benjamin
Sr. has dismissed allegations of political victimization
against a former employee of the Electoral office.
According to a press release disseminated by opposition
party People's Action Movement, Benjamin Sr. is accused
of firing a registration officer in the Nevis Electoral
Office after the employee purportedly removed 'illegally'
registered persons' names from the voters list.
"Mr. Benjamin in his capacity as the Chief Registration
Officer has fired a registration officer in Nevis because
he did his job."
The communiqué went on to say that the alleged
firing stemmed from objections made by Opposition Leader
and Concerned Citizens Movement constituency representative
Hon. Mark Brantley to about 50 persons who had transferred
voting registration from St. Kitts to Nevis.
"The situation that arose recently in which about
fifty persons were transferred from voters' lists in
St. Kitts to Nevis was widely publicized by the Hon.
Mark Brantley. He revealed the identities of these persons
and his investigations exposed the fact that many had
only very tenuous links to Nevis, and certainly did
not warrant registration as voters in Nevis without
residential qualification. In one particularly troubling
instance, a man was found to have been transferred without
his consent or knowledge, proving clearly that corruption
of the electoral process is entrenched in the Electoral
Office. It is against this backdrop that the outrageous
firing has occurred."
Benjamin Sr. spoke exclusively with The Observer, although
he did not discuss the issue of an employee being fired,
and thus any motive behind the alleged termination.
He did however say that he is used to being attacked
and is paying no heed to this latest assault on his
professionalism and integrity.
"They are always saying one thing or another and
I am not paying them any mind. I refuse to get involved
in any political wrangling. I will go about my business
and continue to do my job and do what is right,"
he said.
The PAM release also claimed that this latest alleged
infraction is a continuation of ongoing corruption at
the Electoral Office and is a testament to Benjamin
Sr.'s "unfitness" as Elections Supervisor.
"This is victimization in the service of a political
agenda and speaks to the unfitness of the Supervisor
of Elections for his job. There needs to be a complete
clean up of the Electoral Office, beginning with the
replacement of the Supervisor of Elections.
Several dubious actions on the part of the Electoral
Office have scandalized the nation and led to an erosion
of confidence in the impartiality of those who work
there," the release stated. |
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