David A. Granger

After losing the vote of No Confidence in December 2018, elections were held on 2 March 2020. The elections were overseen by many international entities such as the Organisation of American States, Carter Center, CARICOM and European Union. Initially, Granger and his party tried to claim victory on manipulated numbers.[8]

He later tried to claim the elections were tainted by fraud and should be cancelled.[9][10] Ultimately, a national recount of votes on the indicated a win for the opposing People's Progressive Party presidential candidate Irfaan Ali. This is the third Guyanese President to attempt to win an election by rigging, the previous being Forbes Burnham and Desmond Hoyte, both from Granger's PNC party.[11][12] [13]

Granger attended the prestigious institution of Queen's College. He did some workshops from time and he was covered by the Army. He attended the Urban Policy Development Workshop at the University of California, Los Angeles; the Defense Planning and Resource Management course at the National Defense University, Washington DC; and the Counter-Terrorism Educators' Workshop at the Joint Special Operations University (Florida, USA).[14]

Granger was Commander of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and National Security Adviser to President Hoyte. He received his military training at the Mons Officer Cadet School, and the School of Infantry in the United Kingdom; the Jungle Warfare Instruction Centre in Brazil, and the Army Command and Staff College in Nigeria. He was a member of several defence and security agencies. He held the chairmanship of the Central Intelligence Committee; co-chairmanship of the Border and National Security Committee; and was a member of the Guyana Defence Board, National Drug Law Enforcement Committee, and the Disciplined Forces Commission. Granger has served in several public organisations.[15]

He was elected to the presidencies of the History Society, the Guyana Heritage Society, the University of Guyana Guild of Graduates; and the Guyana Chess Federation. He was also a member of the University of Guyana Council, Association of Caribbean Historians, Caribbean Studies Association, Guyana Press Association, Guyana Book Foundation, and is currently a member of the Guyana Legion and the Board of Trustees of the Guyana Veterans Foundation.

Granger has written extensively on national defence and public security issues. He is the author of National Defence: A Brief History of the Guyana Defence Force, 1965 – 2005; Public Security: Criminal Violence and Policing in Guyana; and Public Policy: The Crisis of Governance in Guyana.[16]

He wrote several monographs, including Five Thousand Day War: The Struggle for Haiti's Independence, 1789–1804; The British Guiana Volunteer Force, 1948–1966; The Guyana National Service, 1974–2000; The Guyana People's Militia, 1976–1997; The Queen's College Cadet Corps, 1889–1975; Guyana's Coinage, 1808–2008; The Era of Enslavement, 1638–1838; and The Village Movement, 1839–1889. He was co-editor, with Winston McGowan and James Rose, of Themes in African–Guyanese History, and was publisher of the Guyana Review and Emancipation magazines.[17]

David Granger with President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff in 2015.

Granger has received various academic awards, including the President's Medal for the best graduating student; Dennis Irvine Prize for the student who has made the greatest contribution to all cultural life of the university; Council of the University Prize; Elsa Goveia Medal of Excellence; Guy de Weever History Prize; Earl Attlee History Prize; Mary Noel Menezes Award for History; Department of History Prize and others, from the University of Guyana.[14]

He also holds three national awards: the Military Efficiency Medal (1976), the Military Service Medal (1981), and the Military Service Star (1985) for distinguished military service.[14]