Latest update November 5th, 2024 1:37 AM
Preparatory work for Rodney COI moves step further
– Family Court to house office
The Office of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the June 1980 bomb-blast killing of Dr. Walter Rodney would be housed in the Family Court building, which has never been used since its construction in 2010.
Dr. Walter Rodney
According to Government’s chief spokesperson Dr. Roger Luncheon, the outcome of the COI would “definitively bring the perpetrators, planners, and executioners of this act into the knowledge and awareness of Guyanese”.
“And it is in that context that in discussions, it was agreed that the Commission and its work would be supported by the contemplation of initiatives that were not used before and not offered before, such as immunity from prosecution and of course, amnesty,” he said.
Dr Rodney, co-founder of the Working People’s Alliance, scholar, historian, and activist, was killed when a bomb exploded in a car in which he was an occupant. He was 38 years old at the time. Rodney’s brother, Donald Rodney, who suffered injuries during the explosion, claimed that Former Guyana Defence Force (GDF) electronics expert, Sergeant 4141 Gregory Smith, had given the politician the bomb that killed him.
It was alleged that Smith planted the bomb in a walkie-talkie that blew up on Rodney’s pelvic region while he was on John Street, Werk-en-rust, between Hadfield and Bent Streets, less than 100 metres from the Camp Street Prison.
However, Smith died of cancer 11 years ago in French Guiana, where he had gone to live under the name of Cyril Johnson, immediately after his escape from Guyana. There have also been claims that Rodney’s assassination was set up by the government of Forbes Burnham, whom Rodney was opposed to. This was because his assassination came at the height of a planned civil rebellion against the Burnham-led administration. But Burnham’s party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), had firmly denied being any part of the bomb blast killing.
According to Dr. Luncheon, preparations for the COI have moved a step further with the visit to Guyana by a Board member of the Atlanta-based Walter Rodney Foundation. It was agreed that the Family Court will house the Office of the Commission and funds would be appropriated to resource the body to discharge specific activities.
Many of the activities would commence now, even before the formal hearing of the Commission is conducted.
“Such activities include the collection of data from the variety of sources that has historically been involved in review and judicial reviews in some cases and parliamentary reviews of Dr. Rodney’s assassination. Also, the elaboration of the TORs (Terms of Reference) that would guide the Commission, and of course, the identification of the Commissioners,” he said.
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