Govt. should bite bullet and implement recommendations of W. Rodney COI- Dr Hinds

May 28, 2017 News

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By Abena Rockcliffe-Campbell
Executive Member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr. David Hinds, thinks that the

coalition government, of which his party is a part, is making a big mistake by not implementing the recommendations of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI).
The COI was completed well over a year ago.
In an invited comment, Dr. Hinds yesterday recalled some of the “good” recommendations of the COI. He said that the government should have no problems implementing these. He noted one of the recommendations that spoke to the strengthening of institutions, “but I think the government does not want to touch the recommendations because they are attached to the COI.
“The PNC (Peoples National Congress Reform) was opposed to the COI, the WPA did not participate as a political party and the AFC was never interested in one way or the other.” Dr. Hinds continued, “There is no appetite to touch the recommendations because it is so politically sensitive.”
Dr. Hinds recalled that the PNC did not want to acknowledge the COI because it was being used by the People’s Progressive Party as a tool to embarrass the party.
Dr. Hinds himself acknowledged that there was a sinister plot behind PPP’s decision to host the COI in the first place but said that the government should not allow that to take away from the importance of implementing the valuable recommendations.
“It is a mistake; this government had an opportunity to do things better. The recommendations allowed them to put the issue to rest,” said Dr. Hinds.
He continued, “If I were in Government I would have said straightforward that the COI was used as political football but these recommendations are reasonable and I will implement them. But Government is following the logic that implementing the recommendations is legitimizing the COI…that is the bind they find them self. But I think that it would be wise for the government to bite the bullet and implement the recommendations.

Dr. Hinds said that in this way, Government will be able to bring positive closure to the issues surrounding Walter Rodney’s explosive death, “but by not implementing any of the recommendations they are going against the motion which they supported for the examination of the report and the implementation of the recommendations.”
The PPP/C had tabled a motion that resolved to have the government lay the COI report in the National Assembly. However, the motion was satisfied one day before the sitting. Hours after the report was laid, Teixeira submitted an amendment.
The amendment was to have the report sent to a Parliamentary Special Select Committee for further examination. However, the Speaker told Teixeira that her motion cannot be debated.
But Teixeira maintained that her amendment was in order.
On that occasion, Teixeira said that examination of the report and its recommendation will help ensure that history is not repeated.
”We can only make sure it never happens again by looking at the recommendations to better the GDF and police,” said Teixeira.
In 2013, a whole 33 years after Rodney’s death, the PPP/C government announced a COI into the death of the famous Guyanese who was described as a scholar, historian, activist, formidable orator and, in his latter days, a politician.
Dr. Rodney, co-founder of the WPA, 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 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 meters from the Camp Street Prison.
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. Both the WPA and AFC had welcomed the announcement for the official probe.
In 1974, Rodney returned to Guyana from Tanzania. He was due to take up a position as a professor at the University of Guyana, but the Burnham government prevented his appointment.
He became increasingly active in politics, founding the WPA, a party that provided the most effective and credible opposition to the PNC government at the time. In 1979, he was arrested and charged with arson after two government offices were burned.
After his assassination, Rodney received several honours. In 1993 the government of Dr. Cheddi Jagan posthumously gave him the country’s highest national award, the Order of Excellence and the Walter Rodney Chair in History was established at the University of Guyana.
Rodney’s death was also commemorated in a poem by Martin Carter entitled “For Walter Rodney.”

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