THE public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of former Working People’s Alliance (WPA) leader, Dr. Walter Rodney has been extended from January 31, 2015, to the end of March.
This was according to Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon, during his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing, held at the Office of the President Wednesday.
The CoI was initially scheduled to last four months, following its April commencement date. This is not its first extension.
On April 15, 2014, Members of Parliament 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.
Asked about funding for the extended work of the Commission, Dr Luncheon assured that availability of resources is not an issue, as sufficient funds have been secured to facilitate the work of the Commission.
“This is not a funding issue. I don’t know where the notion has arisen. I can understand its persistence, but I can assure that funding for the Commission is not an issue and it has never been an issue. Whatever is needed to continue the Commission in its work, up to March 31, 2015, which is the date to which its life has been extended, I can assure that those funds are secured for that purpose,” he said.
The Commission ended a week of hearings last Friday) and is expected to recommence its session on February 9.
The hearings were opened in the Supreme Court Law Library in Georgetown last May by Chairman of the CoI, Richard Cheltenham. Several persons are still coming forward to indicate their willingness to testify at the CoI.
Dr. 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.
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 “accident or misadventure,” and that was met with grave disbelief.
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 a struggle against authoritarian rule for democracy and social justice. There had 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. 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.

(By Vanessa Narine)