The irregularities in the Rodney Commission

Jun 15, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
What attracted my interest is “US$7,300 per month to a state-media operative for his coverage of each sitting of the inquiry.” This is utterly ridiculous when the Commission did not even see fit to reimburse Brian Clarke and me for our costs of showing up on numerous occasions only to have our witness, Lincoln Lewis, deferred.
I am not satisfied with the newspaper report and would like to see the entire breakdown of the cost of this tribunal, including costs. I complained previous about Shaun Michael Samaroo’s coverage of the Commission’s proceedings <http://guyanachronicle.com/rodneys-death-an-enigma-being-answered-special-report-on-the-rodney-commission-of-inquiry-by-shaun-michael-samaroo-rohee-testifies-to-commission-of-x13/> and if he was paid out of the Commission’s budget this seriously gave rise to serious questions having regard to the failure of the Commission to address the concerns raised in my March 16, 2015 email.
In fact, my email was ignored and the Commission of Inquiry was used by the PPP/C Presidential and other candidates to, without any basis, attack the APNU-AFC coalition.
I would like to know to whom I must submit my invoices for disbursements on behalf of myself and Mr. Clarke.
The duration of the International Commission of Inquiry (ICoI) into the death Dr. Walter Rodney is uncertain as Legal Affairs Minister, Basil Williams, says the inquiry has cost Guyanese taxpayers $325,194,226 to date, $16 million of which was paid to a state-media operative for his coverage of sittings.
Williams, who made the disclosure to reporters during a recently interview today, said the amount given does not include the costs for future sittings, the next of which should take place in July. “This thing is not finished…, they didn’t know the government would have changed,” he remarked.
“Were gonna wind it down, we can’t afford it,” the Minister continued. Before the ICoI is concluded however, the various lawyers have to be allowed to make submissions, after which the Commissioners must present their decision.
“There has to be a sitting for submission to be made, upon completion of which the Commissioners would render their decision on the matter. If that is the case the lawyers would have to be informed that they have to give submissions.”
Detailing some of the specifics of the expenditure, Williams said payment for the Commission’s three Commissioners, two Attorneys- at- Law, and a designated journalist from a state-media entity amounted to $150,777,000.
Particularly discomfiting, Williams shared, is the fact that records show that Government paid out US$7,300 per month to a state-media operative for his coverage of each sitting of the inquiry.
On June 13, 2013 the Government of Guyana (GoG), under the Donald Ramotar Administration, announced that it had approved the establishment of the ICOI following a request from the Rodney Family.
Rodney was killed on June 13, 1980 when an explosive device went off in a car in which he was sitting. Due to the circumstances surrounding his killing, it has been deemed an assassination.
Ramotar had said that such an inquiry was necessary to allow Guyana to start the healing process after more than 30 years of uncertainty concerning Rodney’s death, and to avail his family closure.
The inquiry commenced April of 2014, and was supposed to wrap up at the end of the year. The government, however, announced that it was extending the Commission’s life indefinitely.
General Secretary of the Peoples National Congress, Basil Williams, as well as other party members dismissed the ICoI as a “witch hunt,” the aim of which was the sullying of the name of the PNC. As a result of its opposition to the ICoI, the PNC refused to participate, although Basil Williams did attend sessions to defend the party’s interest.
“We are convinced that the real reason for the commission was political,” lamented Williams, who added that the ICoI ended up serving “no useful purpose aside from vindicating the PNC…We said at the outset it was a witch hunt. We have hearsay upon hearsay upon hearsay,” says Williams who now believed that “…their intention to undermine the PNC and to undermine our (election) campaign in the APNU totally backfired.”
Selwyn A. Pieters, B.A., LL.B., L.E.C.
Lawyer & Notary Public

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