THE People’s Progressive Party (PPP), yesterday, called on the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) to summon Leader of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), David Granger, to address the COI concerning the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney. In a statement, yesterday, the ruling party said, “From all indications, Granger and the PNC (People’s National Congress) must have a wealth of information that would be useful to the Commission’s work.”

It noted that the PNC, which forms a major part of the APNU coalition, and Granger “should not be ashamed that their past record will be revealed to the hundreds of thousands of Guyanese, especially the youths of Guyana”.
“The Party is reminded of Granger’s statement, while he had been campaigning for the leadership of the PNC that his membership in the PNC goes back to over forty years. In this respect Granger would have much to contribute to the Commission of Inquiry,” the PPP stated.

CHANGE OF POSITION
The party expressed concerns that the PNC, while stating that it will not participate in the inquiry, is now going to all lengths to discredit and disrupt the Commission from executing its constitutional mandate.
“The PNC continues to use their non-participation in drafting the Terms of Reference (TORs) as a red herring for their non-participation in the Commission of Inquiry.
“Moreover, having failed to convince the Rodney family to effect changes to the TORs of the Commission they then sought to discredit Commissioners Cheltenham and Jairam, claiming that these two respected and learned gentlemen were ‘anti-PNC’. Further, PNC Chairman Basil Williams tried to cast aspersions on the methodology of the hearings, claiming that evidence being given by persons who lived through those days is mere hearsay,” the PPP stated.
According to the ruling party, these “antics” of the PNC are clearly aimed at confusing the public.
The PNC, in a statement two weeks before the start of the hearings, made it clear that it will stand by its decision not to participate in the COI. According to the party, the decision was reached after a meeting of its Central Executive Committee.
However, Joseph Harmon, an APNU Member, told the Guyana Chronicle that he and a team will be present for the duration of the hearings.
Harmon said, “We have come here to represent the interest of the PNCR and we are going to do that during the proceedings. Myself, Mr. Williams (Basil Williams) and Mr. Bond (James Bond) are the attorneys appointed, but beyond that we have a wider group of attorneys in the background who will be advising us as the proceedings continue.”

DAMNING TESTIMONY
The PNC’s earlier position was widely considered a sticky one, given the allegations that the then PNC Government engineered Dr. Rodney’s assassination – a fact noted by the PPP, in its statement yesterday.
The statement said, “We have seen how the testimony of WPA activist Karen DeSouza’s was damning to the PNC.”
The ruling party also addressed the disappearance of seven of 10 surveillance files on Dr. Rodney.
It said, “The PPP also views the disappearance of several vital police files covering the period leading up to the Rodney assassination as an impediment to full disclosure on the Rodney murder. A similar disappearance of copies of the Mirror newspapers published during that period has been discovered at the New Guyana Company Ltd. A former senior reporter at the Mirror, now a practising attorney and member of the Opposition, had at one time unfettered access to these historic publications.”
The first-time evidence, previously reported to the Commission’s lead counsel, Glen Hanoman, as non-existent, was presented during day one of hearings of the Commission of Inquiry.
The secret files are “original” documents that contain detailed accounts of surveillance activities of Rodney. The “surveillance files” of the “special branch” of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) were presented as evidence by Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Leslie James as part of his testimony.
James, a former head of the Special Branch, presented only three of 10 files to the three-member probe team. The other files have apparently gone missing.
The ‘first time evidence’ and the relaxed rules, compared to routine court procedures governing the admissibility of evidence for the hearings were among the major developments that attracted the attention of prominent figures in the two main political parties present on day one of the hearings.
Chairman of the COI, Sir Richard Cheltenham, at the opening, had indicated that ‘hearsay’ along with opinions will be taken into evidence during the course of the hearings.
On that note, he reiterated the call on all patriotic Guyanese to fully participate in the Inquiry and to join the family of the late Dr. Walter Rodney in bringing this matter to closure once and for all.

(By Vanessa Narine )