House approves $112M for work of Walter Rodney COI

MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) were unanimous in their approval of $112M to fund the work of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry, an allocation that was listed under the Office of the President’s 2.2B current expenditure estimates.
A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) front-bencher, Carl Greenidge, questioned the listing of the allocation as an inclusion of ‘other’ current Presidential Advisory expenditures.
But Minister within the Ministry of Finance, Juan Edghill, explained that there was no separate listing, as the expenditure was a one-off one, and did not warrant the creation of a separate heading, which by no means diminishes the importance of the work of the Commission.
Chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry (COI) ,Sir Richard Cheltenham announced recently that the public hearings will begin next Tuesday, April 22.
He said that meetings with the Commissioner of Police; Army Chief of Staff; political parties; Speaker of the National Assembly; Private Sector Commission; the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C); and trade unions and other stakeholders have all been held.
Cheltenham added that the lawyers attached to the Commission, among them Mr. Glen Hanoman, Ms. Latchmie Rahamat and Ms. Nicola Pierre, are currently helping witnesses put their statements together in an orderly and relevant fashion.
President Donald Ramotar had agreed, in June 2013, to establish the COI, following a request from the Rodney family. A previous inquiry ordered by former President Desmond Hoyte, in 1988, found that the historian/politician’s demise was caused by an “accident or misadventure”, and this did not go down well with the family.
Rodney, 38 at the time, was killed on June 13, 1980, when a bomb exploded in the car in which he was travelling. Nine years ago, the House unanimously approved a Motion to establish a commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Parliamentary Motion that spawned the idea of establishing the Commission of Inquiry stated thus: “On the 13th June, 1980, Dr. Walter Rodney, a distinguished Guyanese scholar, was assassinated by an explosion which occurred in his car at John and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown… Dr. Rodney was, at the time of his death, an eminent political leader engaged in a struggle against authoritarian rule for democracy and social justice… There have been calls for a full investigation into the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney, which have received broad support.
“…the National Assembly, in paying tribute to the memory of this illustrious son of Guyana, and on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his untimely and tragic death, supports an enquiry being conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr. Rodney.”
After his assassination, Rodney received several honours posthumously, among them the country’s highest National Award, the Order of Excellence (OE), conferred on him in 1993 by the Government of Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Another was the creation of the Walter Rodney Chair in History at the University of Guyana.

(By Vanessa Narine)