GENERAL-SECRETARY of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee, yesterday stated that the expressed intention of the People’s National Congress (PNC) to withhold support for any request for additional funding to cater for an extension of the work of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, is another attempt to derail the work of the CoI.

At a news conference at Freedom House he said, “The PPP notes the renewed efforts by the PNC/R to derail and discredit the work of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry by trying to create a diversion on the very compelling revelations from witnesses, all of which are pointing to a PNC government involvement in the assassination of a great son of this soil and international scholar, historian and equality advocate, Dr. Walter Rodney.
“…the PPP is of the view that statements by Williams and his party Leader David Granger, questioning the cost associated with the work of the Commission is unfortunate, since the work of the Commission is important to all Guyanese.”
According to Rohee, the nation as well the international community where the work of Dr. Rodney is acclaimed, deserves to know the truth about his assassination.
“We also owe this to Dr. Rodney’s family and relatives. We owe this to the people of Guyana. We all need to know what happened on that fateful day. Who were the architects and the executioners of that dastardly act?” he said.
On April 15, 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 in the 2014 Budget.
Additionally, the establishment of a COI was supported by a Parliamentary Motion that spawned the decision to establish the Commission of Inquiry: “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 democracy and social justice in a struggle against authoritarian rule. There have been calls for a full investigation into the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney, which have received broad support.
President Donald Ramotar had agreed, in June 2013, to establish the COI following a request from the Rodney family, after 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 that was met with grave disbelief.

MIND-BOGGLING
The ruling party’s General-Secretary contends that it would seem that the PNC is “afraid of the truth” being revealed as a result of this CoI.
“Why the PNCR would want to question the cost associated with this particular Commission of Inquiry is mind-boggling, especially since their leader Mr. Granger’s track record in the National Assembly is proliferated with efforts to establish a plethora of Commissions of Inquiries,” Rohee said.
He referenced several headlines to evidence the later, as published in the local dailies, including: Kaieteur News of May 25, 2013: ‘Granger calls for Commission of Inquiry into trafficking in persons’; Guyana Times of June 14, 2013: ‘Opposition passes motion for probe into Region One gastro outbreak’; Stabroek News of October 31, 2013: ‘Brigadier Granger has called for a Commission of Inquiry into the East Coast crimes’; Guyana Chronicle of February 12, 2014: ‘Granger tables motion for inquiry of commission into criminal violence’; and A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) website of December 8, 2013: ‘Brigadier Granger Calls For A Commission Of Inquiry Into Police Brutality.’
“Mr. Granger and the Opposition cohorts successfully moved a motion in the National Assembly calling for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into the police use of rubber bullets on illegal protesters after the 2011 elections,” Rohee added.
He pointed out that in most of these publications, Mr. Granger has reiterated that the requested COIs are needed to bring closure to issues affecting Guyanese.
“The Opposition’s motions as well as their calls for a number of Commissions of Inquiry never took into consideration issue of costs…. as far as the PPP is concerned, the PNC never wanted the establishment of Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry since it would continue to be fearful of the damning revelation that could surface from the inquiry; it is exposing their true colours, so it is not in their best interest,” the General-Secretary said.
He highlighted too that there were no queries of cost when President Donald Ramotar established the Linden Commission of Inquiry.
“Where were the questions about cost? There never was because the Opposition was hopeful that the Commission would have unearthed evidence to embarrass the Government. To the contrary they were bitterly disappointed. Neither is it to be forgotten that after the Linden CoI completed its work and the Government was vindicated, the Opposition sought to discredit the findings of the Commission,” Rohee said.
He reiterated that from day one the PNC’s agenda has been one focused on derailing the work of the Rodney Commission of Inquiry.
“The PPP calls on the Government to ensure it does all that are legally possible to provide the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry with the necessary resources, financial or otherwise, to complete its work, regardless of how long it takes….to Mr. Granger, Williams and the rest of the PNC we say support this Commission of Inquiry now for national healing and justice for all Guyanese,” Rohee said.
Rodney was killed when a bomb exploded in the car in which he was sitting. He was 38-years-old at the time. Nine years ago, Parliament unanimously approved a motion to establish a commission to enquire into the circumstances surrounding his death. After his assassination, Rodney received several honours posthumously, among them, in 1993 the Government of Dr. Cheddi Jagan conferred on him the country’s highest National Award, the Order of Excellence (OE) and the Walter Rodney Chair in History was created at the University of Guyana (UG).

(By Vanessa Narine)