THE National Assembly, after much deliberation, has adopted the report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the killing of renowned scholar and revolutionary, Dr. Walter Rodney. The adoption now allows for the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report. The Commission of Inquiry was established by former President Donald Ramotar in 2014, but was only handed over to the APNU+AFC nine months after it assumed office.
One key finding of the report was that there was a conspiracy involving the security apparatus to kill Rodney, and that the then Prime Minister and Leader of the PNC, Forbes Burnham had to be aware of it. Former President, David Granger, for his part, dubbed the report “badly flawed”.
This is yet another commendable step taken by the current PPP/C administration to correct an historical injustice against a great son of Guyana, and at the same time bring closure to a matter that has been festering for several decades. The family members and relatives of Dr. Rodney had been clamouring for an independent inquiry into his death, but it fell on deaf ears as the PNC continued to perpetuate its own narrative as to how Dr. Rodney met his death.
It would be recalled that Dr. Rodney was killed by an explosion on June 13, 1980 in the vicinity of John and Bent Streets, Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown. His brother, Donald Rodney was also injured in the explosion.

Dr. Rodney, at the time of his death, was fiercely opposed to the dictatorial and authoritarian nature of the Burnham-led People’s National Congress (PNC) regime, and it was widely believed that his death was engineered by elements closely associated with the then ruling PNC regime. Many aspersions were cast against him by Forbes Burnham, who vowed that ‘his steel is sharper’ in an attempt to intimidate and silence him for his political activism against the then dictatorship.
The PPP, at the time, was the leading opposition force against dictatorial rule, and found common cause with Dr. Rodney. Indeed, Dr. Rodney was ideologically closer to Dr. Cheddi Jagan and the PPP, who had consistently embraced a democratic and pro-working class approach to governance. He founded the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) party, which, together with the PPP played a key role in the democratic struggle in the country at the time.
The motion for the adoption of the ecommendations was presented to the House by Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira. This, it must be noted, is the third motion presented in the National Assembly on Dr. Rodney by Teixeira.

In 2005, a motion was tabled in the Ninth Parliament, calling for a Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dr. Rodney, and a second was tabled in 2016 for the CoI report to be adopted and its recommendations implemented. Interestingly, the 2016 motion was carried, but an amendment proposed by the then APNU+AFC regime changed the main thrust of it, and diluted it to ‘call on the government to take measures to examine the findings and recommendations contained in the report in order to ascertain whether any, and if so, which are acceptable and implementable’. It is no secret that the PNC was uncomfortable with the idea of a Commission of Inquiry into the matter, no doubt out of fear that it will unearth, as it were, a number of skeletons in the cupboard, not to mention incriminating evidence of its own complicity in the killing. Indeed, it was vehemently opposed to any call for an inquiry into the matter. It took the PPP/C administration to have the Commission of Inquiry established, only to be prematurely aborted after the APNU+AFC got into power in May 2015.

In all of this, the AFC played a muted role, and, in some respects, could be considered a ‘partner in crime’ by its association with the PNC, which cannot escape responsibility, if not complicity, in Dr. Rodney’s assassination. Indeed, it was painful to witness the deafening silence which reverberated in the hallowed chambers of the National Assembly by persons who were once close associates of Dr. Rodney, and who, for reasons best known to themselves, chose to join ranks with the party that allegedly masterminded his death.
The PPP/C administration must be commended for the actions it has taken to restore the legacy of Dr. Rodney, and in the process move the country closer to the ideals of a ‘One Guyana’ concept, as adumbrated by His Excellency, President Dr. Irfaan Ali. This is not only forward looking, but the only way to go, if we are to fully realise our national motto of One People, One Nation, One Destiny. It is not too late for the PNC to embrace the truth and come clean on its role and involvement in the Rodney affair. The first step in any reconciliation process is to admit to the errors of the past. These are some of the inconvenient truths which the PNC appears reluctant to embrace.