RODNEY’S DEATH: AN ENIGMA BEING ANSWERED
Late historian Dr Walter Rodney
Late historian Dr Walter Rodney
Special Report on the Rodney Commission of Inquiry by Shaun Michael Samaroo

200 weapons handed over to PNC Gov’t

–155 missing to date

CATHOLIC Priest, Father Malcolm Rodrigues returns to the witness stand at the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry today to testify about socio-economic conditions in Guyana that caused the political assassination of Guyana’s foremost international historian and scholar, Dr Walter Rodney.

Yesterday, the Inquiry ended on a note of acrimony and strife when Counsel for the People’s National Congress (PNC), Basil Williams, told the Commission that the Guyana Chronicle’s report on the Presidential Inquiry carried inaccurate reporting last Tuesday, in the use of the term “PNC Government”.

‘Yesterday’s hearings saw Counsel Christopher Ram, in cross examination of Lieutenant Colonel James, establishing that the GDF records tendered into evidence are authentic and real’

Williams objected to reference in the report to the “PNC Government”, but Commission Counsel Glen Hanoman interjected, saying that the newspaper’s report seemed to refer to the Ministry of National Development being

Sir Richard Cheltenham
Sir Richard Cheltenham

named as recipient of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) guns, as the Ministry would be of the PNC Government.
Commission Chairman Sir Richard Cheltenham asked Williams to issue his complaint, using appropriate procedure, and the Commission adjourned.

START OF DAY
The day started with Williams cross-examining Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James, who spent three days on the witness stand this week.
Counsel Williams sought to discredit document records tendered during Lieutenant Colonel James’ testimony that Army records reveal that the GDF loaned high-powered military weapons to the Ministry of National Development of the PNC Government during the 1970s and 1980s.
The records that Lieutenant Colonel James tendered as evidence at the Commission show that the GDF loaned 200-odd weapons to the Ministry at reference, as well as paramilitary organisations and other agencies.

‘Counsel Williams employed a tactic of semantics, questioning the synonymity between the terms “PNC Government” and the Ministry of National Development. However, Counsel Pilgrim introduced a document to the Commission that has both the letter-head of the PNC political party and the Ministry of National Development printed on it, and, while Counsel Williams questioned its validity, the Commission did not reject it’

Of those 200-odd weapons, 155 are still missing today, with the GDF not engaged in searching for them, despite the fact that Police in 2008 found two of those guns, including a grenade launcher, in the possession of notorious criminals at Mahaicony.
During cross-examination by Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, who represents the widow and children of Dr Walter Rodney at the Commission of Inquiry, Lieutenant Colonel James made the alarming disclosure that the missing guns are used for “combat” purposes within the Army, and he would not know what use a non-military organisation would have for these guns. “These are military weapons,” he said.
The GDF loaned out these “combat” weapons (capable of single fire and multi-machine-gun fire over distances ranging from 100 to 400 meters) along with training rifles, which the Army used to train new soldiers. Many of these are still missing, the witness said.
Much of the day saw Counsels seeking to establish credibility of documents and Army records, in the face of Williams’ constant objection as to the validity and authenticity of some records tendered as evidence to the Commission.
In fact, during his cross-examination of the witness yesterday morning, Williams provoked Commission Chairman Sir Cheltenham into reminding him that although regulations and procedures ideally must be followed, there are occasions when such is not the case, and some people act outside of procedures.

RAISON D’ÊTRE
The Commission is probing what could have caused Guyana to plunge to such a political low, that it assassinated its populist political leader, Dr Rodney, in a bomb-blast explosion in Georgetown on June 13, 1980. President Donald Ramotar convened the Commission in answer to decades of worldwide rallying cries for a probe into the events in Guyana on that fateful night in 1980 that saw Dr Rodney die at the hands of an assassin at the height of leading a popular mass revolt against the draconian rule of the PNC-led Government.
During the time, basic food was banned across the country, and Guyana lacked press freedom, freedom of movement and democratic elections.
Apart from Dr Rodney, several other activists and journalists were killed, including Catholic Priest, Father Bernard Darke and several leaders of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), the organization that Dr Rodney was leader of when he was assassinated.
The Commission’s probe has unearthed how devastated and corrupted the institutions of State became under the PNC Government, with testimony detailing a militarized society caught in the grip of political paranoia, with widespread espionage and surveillance employed against political leaders opposing the PNC Government, and other senior members of society, including outstanding lawyer Miles Fitzpatrick.

COUNSEL HOSTILITY
Throughout the Commission’s hearings, Williams has adopted a tone that is often harsh and antagonistic towards witnesses and the Commission, as he seeks to represent the PNC’s interests.
This week, WPA executive member, Tacuma Ogunseye took exception to Williams’ tactics, and urged him to cooperate with the work of the Commission.
But Williams faces a difficult task, and constantly seeks to correct witnesses statements, and interject in objection. Yesterday, the Counsel expended considerable energy on trying to dissuade the Commission from assuming that an “R. Corbin” that uplifted military weapons from the GDF may be the same person as Robert Corbin, who served in the upper hierarchy of the PNC Government and eventually became Party leader.
Yesterday’s hearings saw Counsel Christopher Ram, in cross-examining Lieutenant Colonel James, establishing that the GDF records tendered into evidence are authentic and real.
In introducing an antagonistic and hostile tone towards media coverage of the Commission’s hearings, Counsel Williams employed a tactic of semantics, questioning the synonymity between the terms “PNC Government” and the Ministry of National Development.
However, Counsel Pilgrim introduced a document to the Commission that has both the letter-head of the PNC political party and the Ministry of National Development printed on it, and, while Counsel Williams questioned its validity, the Commission did not reject it.
The Commission resumes this morning at the High Court in Georgetown.

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