-by Kimberly Giddings
Tensions arose in court during the morning proceedings between key prosecution witness Bibi Aneisha Mohamed and defence attorney Nigel Hughes.
The morning sitting was disrupted by a heated exchange during cross-examination, after Mohamed accused Hughes of misrepresenting her testimony.
Hughes pushed back, at one point describing the witness as “racial,” a remark she strongly rejected, saying it was degrading. The confrontation escalated, prompting intervention from Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty.
A visibly frustrated Hughes then indicated he was ready to end his cross-examination before leaving the courtroom, forcing an early adjournment. Earlier, the court had been examining Mohamed’s evidence, including spreadsheets she compiled using audio recordings of GECOM officials and images of Statements of Poll and Statements of Recount to point out alleged discrepancies in vote figures.
Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat explained, “So she also indicated that she was part of the recount process and she did comparisons with her initial tabulation from the 3rd of March together with what was being tabulated in GECOM between the 2nd and the 5th of march and again, she did a comparison with figures from the statement of recount.”
Meanwhile, during the afternoon session, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony took the stand, defending the credibility of the national recount process.
Anthony told the court he was present at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, where the recount was conducted under strict procedures, with figures projected, called out by GECOM officials, and verified by party agents. He said each Statement of Recount was carefully checked before being finalised to ensure accuracy and transparency.
Dr. Anthony also stated that Certificates of Recount were prepared for all districts and signed by party representatives, including himself, only after verification.
He added that a final certification was agreed to by all contesting parties once they were satisfied with the results.
The trial continues on Wednesday April 29, with cross examination of Bibi Mohamed concluding in the morning and Minister Frank Anthony being further crossed examined in the afternoon.