DR. WALTER Rodney is one of the most important Guyanese of his generation; his name and work have helped to make Guyana identifiable to the rest of the world. Coming from very humble circumstances, he rose to become a formidable intellectual, whose academic and political work assumed global reach.During his relatively short life, he produced a body of work which today generates much scholarship and political critique of contemporary Guyanese, Caribbean, African and global political economies. Although described as controversial in certain quarters in Guyana, his name invokes awe and respect in many corners of the globe.

As was the case with many intellectuals of his generation, Dr. Rodney did not confine his energies to the traditional classroom. Rather, he extended the classroom to include the street corners and bottom houses, where the masses of people could be reached.

Walter Rodney was the consummate public intellectual, whose academic work was, first and foremost, a tool and avenue for socio-political change. As a product of the Caribbean decolonization and Independence projects, he saw his primary role as one of service to the wider community.

Born in 1942 in the then British Guiana, Rodney grew up with the decolonization movement, led by the then united PPP. His high school education at Queen’s College in the 1950s coincided with the twists and turns of that movement. His move to the University of the West Indies in Jamaica brought him into contact with the wider Caribbean movement. It was at this point that he made the crucial decision to study African history, a decision that further broadened his world-view.

By the time he earned a doctorate in that field, at age 24 in 1966, his reputation as a brilliant scholar was already developing.
Dr. Rodney spent the next eight years teaching, researching and writing in Jamaica and Tanzania. His most famous publication, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, was published in 1972. This book literally redefined African historiography; it explained African underdevelopment within the context of European expansionism and development.
Today, four decades later, it remains a classic text in the study of Africa, Underdevelopment and Imperialism.

In keeping with his praxis of the responsibility of the intellectual to the wider society, Rodney became involved in the struggle for socio-political justice wherever he found himself. This activism brought him into conflict with the new post-independence government and state, which quickly became suspicious and, in some instances, intolerant of dissent. It was against this background that he was banned from Jamaica in 1968 by the government, which viewed his groundings with the poor and the powerless as a form of political destabilization.

It was not surprising then that, when he arrived in Guyana in 1974, to take up an appointment as head of the History Department at the University of Guyana, the then government reacted in similar fashion as its Jamaica counterpart. His appointment rescinded on political grounds, Rodney then joined the radical revolutionary movement that had taken root in the region, and that was led by the new political alliance, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). For the next six years, he inspired a political reawakening in the country that brought him and the WPA into a collision course with the government, which had become increasingly authoritarian.

It was in that political mix that he met his demise on June 13, 1980. Since Dr. Rodney’s passing, much has changed in Guyana and the world. Many of the leading political actors in the government and state at the time of his demise are no longer alive or active. A major political realignment has occurred, in which Rodney’s party, the WPA, is now part of a partnership and government with the PNC, which was in government at the time of Rodney’s death, and which has been accused by the WPA of being the intellectual author of his death.

Yet, the Rodney saga would not go away; it continues to haunt the political landscape. After years of inaction by both the PNC and PPP governments, the Ramotar-led PPP, in 2014, mounted a Commission of Inquiry into the assignation. It immediately became clear that this move was meant more as a political manoeuvre by the PPP than as a search for the truth. The PNC, understandably, became defensive, and vowed not to participate. The WPA was put in the uncomfortable position of having to choose whether or not to participate in a process it knew was meant as a political ploy.
In the end, both parties participated, with WPA members appearing before the CoI in their individual capacities; but the PNC made clear that it had no confidence in the exercise, which it viewed as an attempt to embarrass it. It was, therefore, not surprising that, with the change of government, the CoI was an early target. It was quickly dissolved and given a time-line to present its findings. Rodney’s supporters protested the hasty closure, which they claimed robbed the CoI of the opportunity to hear from key witnesses. The government, for its part, cited the more that $400 million spent on the exercise as a manifestation of wastage.

Continued pressure by the Justice for Walter Rodney Committee, including a petition delivered to the government, has not yielded any positive result; the government has refused to change its mind. It has, however, granted a short extension of the deadline for the commissioners to turn in their report.

It is unfortunate that Dr. Walter Rodney’s legacy in Guyana has become enmeshed in the logic of local party politics. Many have contended that this has prevented Guyanese, especially the younger generations, from benefiting from his work. We hope that, in the end, this can still become a reality. We also feel for Rodney’s immediate family members, who continue to endure the frustration of delayed justice for their loved one. Whatever happens following this episode, it is our fervent hope that Guyana can soon embrace this esteemed son, not as a controversial figure, but as a committed patriot who served Guyana and the world with distinction.