Despite being convicted for matters linked to dishonesty, security consultant Allan Gates was an important witness in the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) set up to investigate the death of political activist and scholar Dr Walter Rodney.
In their report seen by Stabroek News, the commissioners said that Gates was an important witness in relation to their findings on Rodney’s killer Gregory Smith who also went by the name Cyril Johnson. Gates’ testimony is that he and Smith grew up in neighbouring districts and he knew Smith for years. He further testified that Smith told him that once Dr Rodney was dead, he would receive US$1 million and that he and his wife/girlfriend and child would be facilitated in being relocated out of the country.
“It must be indicated that Allan Gates, a former policeman and an instructor in security matters was, at the time of his testimony serving a period of imprisonment for several offences of obtaining money by false pretenses,” the report said. “At the heart of the offences for which he was convicted is dishonesty,” it added.
However, the commissioners said that there is no rule of evidence or of human experience that because a man is in prison or has been convicted, his testimony must be rejected.
“We nevertheless ask ourselves, as we felt obliged to, whether we should accept Gates’ evidence, not always corroborated in every material particular, and what weight should be attached to it,” the commissioners said.
“Having so advised ourselves, we felt confident in accepting Gates’ testimony. He was unruffled in the course of testifying; he looked the Commissioners straight in their eyes; he was unshaken in cross- examination and his evidence is supported by events which occurred subsequent to Rodney’s death. That series of coincidences was not accidental and we found that Allan Gates was a witness of the truth. Importantly, no evidence was produced by anyone, contradicting his testimony,” the report said. The CoI had been set up in 2014 by then President Donald Ramotar to determine as far as possible who or what was responsible for the explosion that killed Rodney on June 13, 1980. The CoI had concluded that Rodney was the victim of a State-organised assassination on June 13th, 1980 and this could only have been possible with the knowledge of then PNC Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.
