Walter Rodney wasn’t ‘sacred cow’ for PNC gov’t

Under the direction of the then governing party PNC, the House of Israel used violence and other means to disrupt Working People’s Alliance (WPA) meetings during the late 1970s, Joseph Hamilton testified yesterday and he said Dr Walter Rodney was not one of the two “sacred cows” who they were instructed against harming.

Hamilton, a former House of Israel priest, told members of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the death of Dr Walter Rodney that the PNC sought the assistance of the House of Israel in the wake of WPA’s successes in holding public meetings in Georgetown—an area that was considered as a stronghold by the governing party. He added a member of the ruling party later armed the group with guns as there was concern that the WPA might retaliate because of the “more suppressive” techniques used to disrupt meetings.

Rodney was killed on June 13, 1980, after a walkie-talkie given to him exploded and the PNC has long been accused