The government has no intention of extending the life of the Dr Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI), which comes to an end on November 30, since according to Minister of Governance Raphael Trotman, three days or three years would not deliver anything that is “earth shattering.”
Tuesday marked the last day of public hearings of the commission and its commissioners now have until November 30 to submit their report, findings and recommendations.
Since announcing its intention the APNU+AFC administration has come under pressure to rescind the decision by lawyers representing the relatives of Dr Rodney and even the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), which is part of the coalition government. On Tuesday, former President Donald Ramotar, who would have issued the order for the inquiry to be held, added his voice to the calls saying the commissioners needed just a few more weeks to complete their tasks in a professional manner. He said it made no sense to bring the CoI to an abrupt end to save a few dollars when millions have already been spent and the commission’s report would be affected by its failure to receive evidence from key and important witnesses.
At the post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Trotman said to address the issue of the extension, the background of the COI needed to be looked at and its terms of reference and how much money had been spent so far, which was in the hundreds of millions.
“I don’t know whether the nation feels that it has gotten value for money,” Trotman said, pointing out that Cabinet, which is made up of the Working People’s Alliance, took a collective decision to end the inquiry.
He said this was “to save Guyana further embarrassment and taxpayers’ monies because it appears as if it was nothing more than a charade for electioneering purposes put on as a side show by the former administration. The elections are over. The show is over the curtains need to come down.”
Asked how the country has been embarrassed, he said in terms of after close to $800 million being spent with really nothing to show.
“I don’t know if you have a smoking gun, or you have a person who said I did [this] or I was directed by [someone to do it] that is what I mean by embarrassment. It has cost this nation almost a thousand million dollars and nothing of substance has been produced. And I hasten to add and without fear of contradiction, three weeks, three months or three years are not going to deliver anything that is earth shattering,” the minister said.
“So again, do we subsidize the Berbice Bridge and bring some relief to about 60,000 people or do we continue to pay another four hundred million for a few people to sit with microphones in front of them to look good?” he questioned.
On Tuesday at the final hearing, the attorneys renewed their calls for the government to extend the life of the commission by at least two weeks in a bid to allow other key witnesses, such as WPA leader Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and former Crime Chief Cecil ‘Skip’ Roberts to testify.
In justifying the setting up of the CoI the past government had said it wished to clear up all outstanding questions surrounding Rodney’s death, although it did not consult the WPA or the main opposition party on its constitution. However, the PNCR leadership had said that the CoI was part of a plot orchestrated by the PPP/C to “provoke resentment against the PNCR rather than to pursue the truth.”
The commission’s terms of reference includes examining the facts and circumstances immediately prior, at the time of and subsequent to the death of Dr Rodney in order to determine as far as possible who or what was responsible for the explosion resulting in his death. It was to “specifically examine” the role, if any, which Smith played in Rodney’s death and to inquire into who may have “counselled, procured, aided and or abetted” him, including facilitating his departure from Guyana afterward.
In addition, it was also mandated to examine and report on the actions and activities of the State, such as the GPF, the GDF, the Guyana National Service, the Guyana People’s Militia and those who were in command and superintendence of these agencies to determine whether they were tasked with surveillance of and the carrying out of actions and whether they did execute those tasks and carry out those actions against the political opposition for the period January 1, 1978 to December 31, 1980.
The widespread view that has prevailed since Rodney’s killing is that the then PNC government orchestrated it.
