博客

In an unusual development that has raised unaddressed questions, Guyana’s Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has finally made public an appointment to the country’s top magistracy post that was finalized more than a year and a half ago. The commission quietly named Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman as Guyana’s new Chief Magistrate on January 7, 2025, but the official announcement of the appointment only came on July 14, 2026, via a late-night update posted to the Supreme Court of Judicature’s official Facebook page. Per the commission’s statement, Latchman’s appointment has been retroactively effective from the original nomination date in January 2025. Notably, no official explanation has been provided for the 18-month gap between the appointment decision and its public disclosure.

Latchman brings over two decades of legal and judicial experience to the role, with a well-documented professional trajectory rooted in Guyana’s legal system. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Guyana in 2002, followed by a Legal Education Certificate from the Trinidad-based Hugh Wooding Law School in 2004. Later that same year, in October 2004, she was formally admitted to the Bar of Guyana, marking the official start of her legal career.

Her first professional role was as a State Counsel in the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions, a position she took up immediately after admission to the bar. She rose through the ranks quickly, earning a promotion to Senior State Counsel in that same department by 2008. In 2009, Latchman made the transition to the magistracy, building a reputation for consistent judicial service over the next eight years that led to her elevation to Principal Magistrate in 2017, the role she held before her 2025 appointment to Chief Magistrate.

Beyond her active judicial duties, Latchman maintains prominent professional ties within commonwealth judicial circles. She is a fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, and holds membership in both the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and the Judicial Education Institute of Guyana.

Alongside the long-delayed announcement of Latchman’s appointment, the JSC also revealed that six new judicial officers have been appointed to the rank of magistrate. The new appointees are Ocelisa Marks, Nikkisha Logan, Jimelle Joseph, Shareefah Parks, Taneisha Saygon and Caressa Henry. All six are scheduled to take their oaths of office before Guyana’s Prime Minister Mark Phillips on July 15, 2026, the day following the public announcement of the appointments.

Guyanese authorities have issued a murder warrant for Satrohan “Depo” Rajkumar, a former associate of the country’s Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting of gold miner Ricardo “Paper Shorts” Fagundes, law enforcement officials confirmed Wednesday. The killing took place outside Georgetown’s popular Palm Court venue on Main Street in March 2021, and a renewed investigation into the high-profile case has now unearthed new developments that have sent shockwaves through Guyana’s political landscape.

Three other associates connected to Mohamed’s now-defunct motor racing venture Team Mohameds – Udoh Kanu, used car dealer Amarnauth Ramsook, and security officer Mark Richmond – have each been granted bail set at 1 million Guyanese dollars as the probe continues. Investigators have confirmed that the getaway vehicle used by the attackers was later discovered burned out along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, and the registered owner of the car has since passed away.

Mohamed, whose We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party secured 13 seats in last September’s general and regional elections to cement his position as Guyana’s Opposition Leader, has launched fierce public pushback against the renewed investigation, claiming the probe is a politically motivated plot to tarnish his name. The allegations come after Mohamed publicly exposed a large-scale agricultural development owned by sitting President Irfaan Ali along the Linden-Soesdyke Highway.

“The People’s Progressive Party has never faced a determined, vocal Opposition Leader in recent history. That is why they have waged a relentless campaign to bring me down ever since I entered mainstream politics,” Mohamed wrote in a post on his official Facebook page linked to Team Mohameds.

The opposition leader also claimed that two of his former innocent employees were detained for six days as part of what he called a deliberate manipulation of Guyana’s judicial system and a blatant violation of the men’s constitutionally protected rights. Already wanted by United States authorities on allegations of unrelated financial crimes, Mohamed further claimed that the deceased getaway car owner, Shemroy Stewart, was a known contracted killer for Shaheed “Roger” Khan – a drug kingpin who was convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. years ago on cocaine trafficking charges. Mohamed has denied ever having any personal or professional connection to Stewart. He also alleged that senior police officials have approached multiple inmates in Guyanese prisons offering incentives to issue false statements that would directly tie him to Fagundes’ murder.

For his part, Khan broke his silence on the case Monday, stating that Fagundes – whom Khan described as his “son” – was killed in an attack that was actually meant for him. Khan repeated longstanding claims that he previously helped prevent the collapse of the former Bharrat Jagdeo administration, and accused police of intentionally dragging their feet in the initial response to the 2021 shooting, a claim he first made publicly weeks after the killing.