THE utilization of Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) can contribute to a nation’s democracy, according to Dr. Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary.

“Once utilized appropriately, it can be a tremendous contribution to the democracy that we all seek to put in place in our country,” he said at his weekly press conference, held Wednesday at Office of the President (OP).

Luncheon added that the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into the death of renowned Guyanese Dr. Walter Rodney was “discussed at length” during Cabinet’s meeting on Tuesday.

The HPS stressed that the resort to the use of the Commission of Inquiry specific to the death of Dr. Walter Rodney will bring closure to the family members, friends and other interested parties.

“Our resort to the use of that instrument (the Commission of Inquiry) must be appreciated because of what it does,” he said.

The HPS maintained that regardless the time-frame, be it one or 30 years after an incident, the use of the Commission of Inquiry is of indisputable usefulness.

Dr Walter 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 an ‘accident or misadventure’; which finding 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 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 has 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.”
On April 15, Members of Parliament (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.

Dr Rodney received several honours posthumously, among them the Government of Dr. Cheddi Jagan conferred on him, in 1993, the country’s highest National Award, the Order of Excellence (OE).

The Walter Rodney Chair in History was also created at the University of Guyana.

(By Vanessa Narine)