Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Chairman, Sir Richard Cheltenham said any change to the Terms of Reference (ToR) has to be made by President Donald Ramotar even as he dismissed concerns raised about the impartiality of Commissioner, Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam.
Both the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) have objected to Jairam on the panel, owing to his appearance in court for the Guyana Government in the recently concluded budget cuts case.
For its part too, the WPA has called on Government to remove a paragraph from the ToR, saying that it had nothing to do with the politician’s killing. In a letter to President Donald Ramotar earlier this month raising a number of concerns regarding the inquiry, the WPA said “on the terms of reference proper, we have grave concerns that paragraph (iv) strays a considerable distance from the precisions of paragraph (i) that properly tasks the Commission with examining the facts and circumstances immediately prior, at the time of, and subsequent to the death of Dr Walter Rodney… how does the time period defined in paragraph at (iv) – 1 January 1978 to 31 December 1980 – qualify as being immediately prior, at the time of, and subsequent to the death of Dr Walter Rodney”? the WPA had asked.
The party, which was formed by Rodney, but now in alliance with the PNCR, said: “We are of the view that the scope of paragraph (iv) goes well beyond what is required for the determination of responsibility as expressed clearly in para (i). Instead, para (iv) runs the risk of opening a Pandora’s box that will guarantee an unwelcome poisoning of the political environment which, you will agree, is already toxic enough. We urge that paragraph (iv) be removed from the terms of reference,” the WPA said in the letter signed by its leader, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and Executive Member, Professor Clive Thomas.
Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Cheltenham said the issues raised by the Opposition parties cannot be addressed at the Commission’s level, but by President Ramotar.
Following the news conference, the Commission met with leaders of APNU and discussed issues pertaining to the inquiry. Minutes after meeting with Commissioners, APNU reported that it used the opportunity to convey to them its concerns about the CoI’s ToR and the selection of Commissioner Jairam.
Cordial
“The meeting was informative and cordial,” APNU said, adding that it hopes that the inquiry would prove to be a source of healing. APNU was represented at the meeting by Brigadier David Granger and parliamentarians, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, Basil Williams and Joseph Harmon. The three-member Commission was sworn in on February 25 to probe the circumstances leading to the death of Rodney. He died when a bomb exploded in his lap some 34 years ago.
Meanwhile, Cheltenham told the media that the findings of the inquiry will in no way subject anyone found culpable for the historian’s death to penalty, since a section of the ToR provides for their complete immunity. The Chairman, along with the two other Commissioners, Jamaican Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Guyanese-Trinidadian Senior Counsel Seenath Jairam was at the time addressing members of the media on the progress made by the Secretariat thus far.
Cheltenham stressed that persons who wish to come forward can do so with no fear.
