There is opposition to renaming of National Archives

Dear Editor
NOTHING is wrong with naming something after Dr Walter Rodney. For instance, renaming Croal St where the WPA’s office was to Rodney Street, or where he was born or grew, but the National Archives has a particular denotative and connotative value to be seen as a national entity. According to the National Archives of Guyana Act, Chapter 40:08, Section 3 (2) the institution was established to “be the place of deposit for the storage and preservation of public archives.”

We have the Victoria Law Court, which is named after Queen Victoria. Back then it was the Supreme Court of British Guiana and it was about colonisation and control to show who was really in charge and had control over us. By the same token are we now witnessing efforts by the WPA to play the control game on us.

For instance, you don’t take the Guyana Defence Force, whose first locally born Chief of Staff was Colonel Clarence Price, and rename the institution the Colonel Price Defence Force. Neither do we rename the Ministry of Education the Forbes Burnham Education Ministry, given that he was the first locally born Minister of Education under internal self-government. Or do we name the Ministry of Agriculture the Cheddi Jagan Agriculture Ministry, because he was the first Minister of Agriculture, Forest, Land and Mines.
Will we see the WPA wanting the Ministry of Telecommunications be renamed the Sydney King or Eusi Kwayana Public Telecommunications Ministry, whichever is preferred, because he was the Guyana’s first Minister of Communications and Works? Would they want two departments of government renamed in honour of Joycelyn Dow and Andaiye, the founding women of the WPA? The only two WPA leaders standing on their own two feet without the ghost of Rodney on their shoulders are Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Professor Clive Thomas.
And this raises the concern about the need to rename the National Archives the Walter Rodney Archives. Is it because he was the co-leader of the WPA and may be known in the international community? Comparatively, on the local scene, he did not distinguish himself with the body of work akin to fellow historians such as Sister Mary Noel Menezes, Prof James Roses, Pat Dyal Singh, Vere T Daly and Archivist Tommy Payne.

Taking this renaming business to the logical ridiculous conclusion, the Cooperative Republic of Guyana can be renamed the Cooperative Republic of Jabuda in honour of Cheddi Jagan, Forbes Burnham and Peter D’Augiar, Guyana’s Founding Fathers. Knowing the culture of the WPA, fighting for recognition, the party will want the name Rodney added, so we can then do a final renaming to that of the Cooperative Republic of Jabudaro. Instead of being Guyanese we will be Jabudaroes or Jabudaroians. This will make the WPA happy.
There is disagreement with the government’s position to rename the National Archives the Walter Rodney Archives
Regards
Minette Bacchus

Editor’s note:
DESPITE announcing a change in the name of the National Archives to honour the late Dr Walter Rodney, the former PPP administration had refused to gazette the change and government gave the assurance on Thursday that it would right the wrong. Director-General (DG) of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, said the government will have to correct another wrong by the former administration that has, over the last few days, caused some uneasiness in society. Recent news of the removal of the name of late Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA) founding member Dr Walter Rodney from the National Archives of Guyana had caused some displeasure; however, Harmon said: “it is our intention to correct that.”

He explained at a post-cabinet news conference that the previous government, which made the name change from the “National Archives of Guyana” to the “Walter Rodney Archives,” had failed to follow the legal course and have the change gazetted. Since the issue came to the fore, members of the opposition have been taking to the pages of local newspapers. However, the DG said the opposition has been trying to drive a wedge between the parties of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU). “Our partnership in which the WPA is an active and valued member is as strong as it was when it first started. “We are engaging the WPA and we will address that matter,” the DG insisted.

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