GEORGETOWN; GUYANA: A bomb scare that failed to clear the building. Witnesses who refused to leave. Accounts of confusion and defiance. These were some of the explosive details revealed Monday as the high-profile trial related to Guyana’s March 2020 elections continued before Magistrate Faith McGusty.
At the center of it all is the Ashmins Building—formerly the GECOM Command Centre—now a key focus in one of the most closely watched legal cases in the country’s recent history.
As tensions rose in court over the admissibility of evidence, it was decided that the court will conduct a site visit to the Ashmins Building itself. On Wednesday at 09:30 hrs, the Magistrate, attorneys, and key witnesses will tour the premises that have featured heavily in testimony over the past several weeks.
But even before the visit, Monday’s hearing brought its own share of drama.
Prosecutors sought to introduce a supplementary statement from witness Josh Kanhai, claiming it contained crucial details about the period between March 3 and 13, 2020—days that followed the controversial general and regional elections. Although Kanhai had already testified about the national recount, the prosecution said the additional statement clarified key incidents.
Defense attorneys objected strongly, calling the move a procedural ambush. They argued the statement lacked a date and was filed beyond the disclosure deadline. Prosecutors responded that it had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions on June 17. The court ordered both sides to submit written arguments on the matter.
Meanwhile, the trial moved ahead with live testimony from Assistant Superintendent of Police Dyal, who spoke about events on March 5, 2020, when he was dispatched to Ashmins in response to a bomb threat.
Dyal, then an Inspector with the Criminal Investigations Department and head of the bomb disposal unit, said he arrived with his team to find senior officers already on site. Among them was Assistant Commissioner Edgar Thomas, then the Regional Commander for Division 4A.
Thomas, according to Dyal, addressed those inside the building: “He said there is a bomb in the building, please evacuate the building. He said it more than once.” But Dyal told the court that no one complied. “No one left the building,” he testified.
Despite repeated warnings and the presence of the bomb squad, key election and party officials reportedly remained inside. Dyal said his unit eventually exited, waited outside for nearly an hour, and was later instructed to return to their office. No device was ever found.
The testimony has drawn renewed interest as the court seeks to clarify what took place inside the Ashmins compound during a fiercely disputed election process.
Nine individuals are facing charges of conspiracy to rig the 2020 results in favor of the then-ruling APNU+AFC coalition. Among them are former government minister Volda Lawrence, ex-Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, and former Deputy CEO Roxanne Myers.
The court is hoping the site visit will help bring clarity. Witnesses expected to attend include Local Government Minister Sonia Parag, elections observer Rosalinda Rasul, former commander Edgar Thomas, and Kian Jabour. The visit will be video-recorded, and measurements will be taken to verify accounts. Witnesses will also be asked to identify specific areas referenced in their testimony.
The Ashmins Building may be quiet now, but come Wednesday, it will once again stand at the center of national attention—this time, as a courtroom moves into the space where the country’s most contested election battle played out.
