Commonwealth official assigned to Guyana
To monitor dialogue progress
Stabroek News
November 28, 2002
The Commonwealth Secretariat has established a presence in Guyana to support the work of Sir Paul Reeves, the Special Envoy of the Commonwealth Secretary-General.
It has assigned Chuks Ihekaibeya, a senior official at the Commonwealth Secretariat to be a reference point for Sir Paul in Guyana.
Ihekaibeya arrived here this week together with Judith Pestaina who accompanied Sir Paul on his visits here earlier this year.
Since his arrival, Ihekaibeya has met with President Bharrat Jagdeo and representatives of the PNCR including party leader, Desmond Hoyte.
Sources say Ihekaibeya’s tasks include active monitoring of the political situation here as part of Sir Paul’s mandate to assist in the resuscitation of the political dialogue between President Jagdeo and Hoyte and supporting the efforts of the Social Partners’ shared governance initiative.
Ihekaibeya, a graduate of the universities of Ibadan, Nigeria and Leeds, UK joined the Commonwealth Secretariat more than twelve years ago and brings with him a wealth of experience in mediation efforts in Commonwealth trouble spots gained during the ten years he spent as Special Assistant to two Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth.
He is also no stranger to Guyana having visited as part of the Commonwealth Assessment Team in November 2000 and was part of the Commonwealth observer team for the March 19, 2001 general and regional elections.
During those visits, Ihekaibeya was afforded the opportunity of visiting various parts of the country and interacting with political parties and civil society groups. (Patrick Denny)
