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It is hoped the Rodney COI exercises vigilance or we’ll be back where we started

Sep 21, 2013 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
Going by Eusi Kwayana’s letter of September 19, 2013 “I shall be willing to assist the Rodney COI as a witness,” this is a much welcomed development to bring to the public fore, the truth surrounding the death of Walter Rodney.
What this society needs, and has been denied for three decades, is truth clothed in accuracy (i.e. what existed/transpired) as against the continued professed truth based on reporting what someone said or claiming to know. And in this regard, attention is drawn to Kaieteur News’ Editorial of September 20, 2013, “The Rodney Inquiry.”
While such is an opinion piece, particular reference is made to the thought that:”even though Donald Rodney, present when his brother was killed, identified the perpetrator as a ‘Gregory Smith’ of the GDF, the authorities denied the existence of such an individual.” Ascertaining the accuracy to this statement must take into consideration/evaluation the validity of the following information within the public domain:
A) “Donald [Rodney], 29, in an exclusive CANA interview [June 16, 1980], told how a former Guyana Army Sergeant won his brother’s confidence, offering to make communications equipment for him and eventually planting the bomb which blew Dr. Rodney apart in central Georgetown Friday night.”
B)  In response to (a) the Ministry of Information reportedly said: “There is not and there has never been a Sergeant Gregory Smith in the Guyana Defence Force. The release added: ‘The records of the army dating back to its inception revealed that there have been forty six (46) Smiths. There are two (2) Gregory Smiths and both are currently in the army. Neither of them has attained the rank of sergeant. Nineteen of the Smiths attained the rank of Non-Commissioned Officers.’”
C)  It was later ascertained the Gregory Smith in question was not a sergeant but a corporal.
Almost everything surrounding the death of Walter Rodney has been twisted, reconstructed and retold to fit a given image, with accuracy often sacrificed in the process. It is hoped the Commission of Inquiry exercises vigilance in this area, because at the end of the day the society will end up just where we started – 1) the truth being withheld and 2) this misrepresentation allowing for the continued use of Rodney’s name for self-serving end.
Minette Bacchus

 

 

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