– as she recounts constant surveillance, harassment of her late husband

THE first day of session six of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) saw the wife of the late Dr. Walter Rodney take the stand. Patricia Rodney’s testimony ended on an emotional note during her response to questions on how she personally dealt with the death of her husband.Led through her evidence in chief by her lawyer, Andrew Pilgrim, Mrs. Rodney described her life with her husband in Jamaica, England, and Zimbabwe, until their return to Guyana. She pointed out that surveillance of Dr. Rodney began as early as in England.

When asked about harassment, she pointed out it was subtle at the beginning, but eventually led to the splitting up of the family. She explained how this occurred with her children being sent off to stay with friends, while she and her husband would stay in ‘safe houses’.  She added that after the death of Father Bernard Darke and Ohene Koama, it got very scary.
Mrs. Rodney declared that Dr. Rodney never had any political ambitions, but only wanted to mobilise and educate the people. She described him as a patient and non-violent man. She stated emphatically that she had no knowledge of his acquiring arms and ammunition, and also denied knowledge of Gregory Smith and Robert Gates.
She pointed out that on June 12, 1980, a man, whom she did not know, came to their door and asked for Dr. Rodney, stating that he had a meeting with him. She told the person that Dr. Rodney was not there and he went away. It was only after her husband’s death that she recognised that the man was Gregory Smith.
The most important point coming out of her evidence yesterday was the chronicling of Dr. Rodney’s actions on that fateful day. Mrs. Rodney related how her husband spent the morning of the last day he was alive.
She also confirmed the evidence given by Father Malcolm Rodrigues that he picked her up and stayed the night at the Rodneys’ home. She also confirmed that he took her to identify her husband’s body.
Additionally, she related details of the offer from the American Ambassador of the day in an effort to comfort the Rodney family. The offers included visas for her and the children to leave the country, as well as an offer to take care of the funeral. She refused the offer.
Questioned by the Commissioners, Mrs. Rodney stated that she had received condolence messages from Heads of State from around the world, but none from Guyana.
Mrs. Rodney also related the fact that Dr. Rodney had put systems in place; if anything were to happen to him, he gave specific instructions to friends living in Barbados to return to Guyana to take his wife and the children to Barbados. As he had planned, when something did happen, the individuals came and she and her children left for Barbados. Mrs. Rodney described her life in Barbados as a single parent as difficult for a while.
This indicated that while Dr. Rodney was fearless in carrying out his work, there was some premonition which led him to put systems in place in the event anything happened to him.
Mrs. Rodney stated that the death of Dr. Rodney had affected her children deeply and her greatest achievement in life was raising them to be decent human beings.
The other side of Walter Rodney also came out during his wife’s testimony. While most Guyanese and persons around the world had seen him as an academic and a gifted writer, Mrs. Rodney described the ‘family man’ and how he related to his children. Her testimony also included his courtship days and eventual marriage, a relationship which began in Guyana, and which eventually led them to marry in England.
Dr. Rodney, a Guyanese political activist and intellectual, died on June 13, 1980 following an explosion in his car. He is widely believed to have been assassinated and had written several books prior to his untimely demise.
The COI, among other things, will inquire into who or what was responsible for the explosion that led to Rodney’s death, whether it was an accident or an act of terrorism, and the role of some persons and agencies, if any, in his death.
Mrs. Patricia Rodney is expected to continue her testimony today.