IN September of 2012, in response to requests from various fronts, President Donald Ramotar, while on a state visit to the U.S., announced that preparations have begun for the international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on the death of Walter Rodney, stating that an office was being established and staff employed to pave the way for a successful inquiry.In June of 2013, the administration said an international inquiry would be launched into Dr. Rodney’s death, with the aim of bringing closure to the issue.

Thirty-three years ago, the political activist was assassinated in Georgetown. A remote controlled bomb exploded while on his lap as he sat in his car. At the time of his death, he was a major critic of the People’s National Congress (PNC).

Born into a working-class family, Rodney attended Queen’s College, where he became a champion debater and athlete.

He attended the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) in Jamaica, graduating in 1963 with a first-class degree in history, winning the Faculty of Arts prize.

Rodney earned a PhD in African history in 1966 at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, England, at the age of 24.

On June 13, 1980, Dr. Rodney, 38, was killed by a bomb in his car, a month after returning from the independence celebrations in Zimbabwe and during a period of intense political activism.

His brother, Donald Rodney, who was injured in the explosion, said that a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force named Gregory Smith had given Dr. Rodney the bomb that killed him. After the killing, Smith fled to French Guiana, where he died in 2002. Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr Roger Luncheon disclosed that he and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall are Government’s representatives designated to spearhead the operations of the CoI.

The PNC regime had been accused by Rodney’s party, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) of Walter Rodney’s assassination. However, through Dr Rupert Roopnarine and other WPA leaders, Rodney’s party has now merged with his alleged assassins and they are all highly incensed at the formulation of this Commission of Inquiry into the death of Walter Rodney.

One would have thought, if only to clear that darkest among many dark stains in its history, that the PNC would have been eager to co-operate with this commission. However, conversely, that party has taken the decision not to participate in the Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Walter Rodney.

The PNCR, in a statement on Friday last, noted that it took this decision after a meeting of its central executive committee. The PNCR’s participation in the CoI has always been ‘iffy’, as its Chairman Basil Williams had told the media that the CoI is targeting the time when the Party was in government.

However, this was rebuked by the country’s President, Donald Ramotar, who has maintained that the CoI was established following a request from Rodney’s wife.

The PNCR had expressed its concerns with the Terms of Reference of the COI.

“When you look at some of those recommendations, especially recommendation four (4), which says the Commissioners are to examine a report on the actions and activities of the State, such as the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana National Service and those who were in command of those agencies to determine whether they were tasked with the surveillance of and the carrying of those actions and whether they executed those actions for the period January 1, 1978 – December 31, 1980,” Williams had earlier said.

Surely this was expected, given the ethos of terror and the fearsome reputation of the protagonists allegedly accused on involvement in Walter’s murder; which leads one to surmise what the PNC is afraid will come out in the wash of this CoI.

The Commission is scheduled to begin its work next Monday. Hopefully, this will bring closure to the wounds inflicted on the family of Walter Rodney, and the Guyanese nation on that fateful June day in 1980.