Dear Editor,
I read the gravamen of this purported Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry, as contained in the report; it is damming, but I refer to a sad and sorry paragraph which says there is prima facie evidence that the late Mr Laurie Lewis, then Head of Special Branch and later Commissioner of Police and two other senior members of the Disciplined Services “had significant roles to play in the conspiracy to kill Dr. Walter Rodney and the subsequent attempt to conceal the circumstances surrounding his death.”
It will take volumes to reply to the above absurdity.
The report is clearly biased and unworthy. The report relied on hearsay with no interest in the pursuit of relevant information and the truth. For brevity, I merely give one example. The Commission accepts as the truth the recollections by a Mr Gates whom they took out of jail to testify. Mr Gates was not in prison for a minor traffic offence, but for a more serious offence. Yet, this commission dispensed sums of money to bring from overseas, Cecil ‘Skip’ Roberts to give evidence. Skip Roberts was in Guyana for two weeks, ready and available, but was never called to come before the commission, and returned, since it was clear the commissioners, even though spending funds on travel and accommodation for Mr Roberts, had no interest in bringing to the witness stand, people of integrity. An officer, who served with distinction, but with alacrity, by listening to the likes of Mr Gates and others, they turned the inquiry into a soap opera that cost the taxpayers four hundred million dollars.
It must be remembered, that it was the PPP who earlier opposed a motion for a full-scale inquiry into Rodney’s death. Not to mention the PPP’s failure to mount inquiries or investigate thoroughly, the killings of hundreds of young Guyanese, such as Ronald Waddell and many others.
The commission spent hours listening to the likes of Mr Joe Hamilton and other second and third-hand witnesses, but these persons, who enjoyed the limelight briefly, what did they witness? Did any of them help to tell us what sort of device Walter Rodney had? From the beginning, we heard it was a walkie-talkie, but walkie-talkies don’t explode. Did the commission seek to find out who ordered this device or walkie-talkie? And more importantly, what caused the explosion or detonation of this device?
Citizens must ask why did the Commission of Inquiry not seek information and make connections with Rodney’s state of mind, when two of his lieutenants were cornered in the backlands of Ruimveldt by a police detail after they had acquired assault rifles from an unknown source, or whether there was any connection between another set of Rodney’s lieutenants, allegedly responsible for the burning down of the building of National Development. Did the Commission of Inquiry seek some explanation why Walter Rodney, after leaving a meeting of WPA officials, journey to Charlestown to collect this device from Mr Gregory Smith? He did not seek the companionship of any of his top WPA officials, but took along his blood brother who was not known as a WPA or political activist.
Why did the Rodneys identify a spot outside the prison walls? It would be interesting to have this simple question answered. Gregory Smith’s account of the events leading up to that tragic accident is crystal clear and recalled that Rodney as part of the grand design for revolution had infiltrated sections of the army and police force. Was Gregory Smith one of Rodney’s recruits or co-conspirators in a grand design to cause mayhem, and to destabilize a government led by a person he described at public meetings in unflattering terms?
I have held my peace all this time, but since this report sets out to damn LFS Burnham, identified members of the Disciplined Services and the party that I have served for three generations, I should break my silence.
I have always admired Rodney’s academic work and his analysis of our history, but all of us must accept the truth. Dr Walter Rodney opted to reach the plateau of political power by violent means. He was the architect of his own demise. Gregory Smith in the book by his sister made it clear: it was a terrible accident ‒ end of story.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green
