Motion to implement Rodney COI recommendations set for today

Aug 09, 2021 News

---

Kaieteur News – A motion is set to be moved today in the National Assembly for the adoption and implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the death of Guyanese historian and politician, the late Dr. Walter Rodney.
According to the order paper for the 31st sitting of the 12th Parliament, the motion is set to be moved by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira. The document notes that the motion set to be moved by Teixeira outlines that although a report from the COI, which was appointed to enquire and report on the circumstances surrounding Rodney’s death, was handed over to former President David Granger on February 10, 2016, the document was never fully made public.

The parliamentary order paper notes however that on May 12, 2016, then Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, laid Volume 1 of the Report of the COI in the National Assembly which included “Critical Findings and Summary on Gregory Smith” and 11 significant recommendations; Added to this, the information contained in the order notes that while in Opposition back then Chief Whip Teixeira called on the “National Assembly to adopt the report and its findings” and “on the Government to take measures to implement the recommendations therein in order to ensure that the democratic architecture of the state is preserved and strengthened.”
Teixeira’s motion which was debated in the National Assembly on August 4, 2016, was afterward amended to read “the National Assembly acknowledges the report” and “calls on the Government to take measures to examine the findings and recommendations …to ascertain whether any and if so which, are acceptable and implementable.”
At today‘s sitting, Teixeira will call on the Government to take measures to implement the recommendations therein in order to preserve and strengthen the democratic architecture of the state. According to the order paper, the National Assembly will also call on the Government to take measures to cause the complete report emanating from the Commission of Inquiry to be made public and available electronically to the public. Minister Teixeira’s motion is among the efforts made by the PPP/C-led administration to honour the life and legacy of Dr. Rodney.
During a parliamentary sitting on June 10 last, Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall announced that among other things, that steps would be taken to correct misinformation contained in the death papers of Dr. Rodney.
The AG noted that although, Rodney, as a son of Guyana was known and respected throughout the world for his academic accomplishments, scholarship, and activism, his death certificate described him as “unemployed’’, as he was denied a job at his country’s only University after working at Universities across the globe.

“This historical wrong will be corrected and that death certificate will be corrected to read “Professor” instead of “unemployed”,” the AG had pledged adding then that efforts were already underway to secure and digitise the records of the COI in the National Archives, which had been recently renamed the Walter Rodney National Archives, in collaboration with the Walter Rodney Foundation and the Atlanta University Center – Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta, Georgia.
Added to this, Nandlall announced that Dr. Rodney’s Gravesite & Memorial was soon to be declared a national monument under the administration of The National Trust.
Dr. Rodney who is the founder leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) was killed on 13th June 1980, in Georgetown, after his car exploded. At the time of death, Dr. Rodney and the WPA had become the most popular and effective opposition against the then ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) government. As such, Rodney’s death, which was also linked to his underhand dealings with a Guyana Defence Force Officer named Gregory Smith, was treated as an assassination due to his political work. In fact, it was widely believed, but not proven, that the assassination was set up by Guyana’s then president, Linden Forbes Burnham.
In early 2015, a COI into Rodney’s death established by a former People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) led administration unearthed information from a new witness, Holland Gregory Yearwood, who came forward claiming to be a long-standing friend of Rodney and a former member of the WPA. Yearwood testified that Rodney presented detonators to him weeks prior to the explosion asking for assistance in assembling a bomb.
The COI concluded that Rodney’s death was indeed a state killing and that Burnham had to have knowledge of the plot. The Rodney COI also resulted in recommendations for the improvement of the professionalism, speed, efficiency, and thoroughness of the operations of the Guyana Coroner’s Department, Guyana Police Force, and Guyana Defence Force in service to the people of Guyana.
Meanwhile, Dr. Rodney’s brother, Donald Rodney, who was injured in the explosion, that killed him was convicted in 1982 of possessing explosives in connection with the incident that killed his brother. On 14 April 2021, the Guyana Court of Appeal overturned his conviction, and sentence, exonerating him forty years after he contested his conviction.

---

---