A three-member Commission was on Tuesday sworn in at the Office of the President to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the late co-founder of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr Walter Rodney, who was killed when a bomb exploded in the car in which he was sitting 33 years ago.
Barbadian Queen’s Counsel Richard Cheltenham has been appointed Chairman of the Commission by President Donald Ramotar. He will serve alongside Jamaican Queen’s Counsel Jacqueline Samuels- Brown, and Guyanese-Trinidadian Senior Counsel Seenauth Jairam. They took their oath before the Head of State and a few Cabinet members, including Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
President Ramotar said the decision to establish the commission was taken, after family members of the late politician and historian approached him. He hopes the findings will put all suspicions to rest. Commission Chairman Cheltenham, addressing reporters, explained that he was unable at the time to determine when the inquiry will begin; however, some 100 witnesses are expected to testify before the Commission.
“It is too early for me to indicate precisely when we will start, we have a long meeting with the secretariat on Wednesday which was established since July last year, and they will advise on how ready they are in the process of evidence gathering and how many witness statements they have already prepared and if not, how soon they are likely to have enough prepared so we could start the inquiry”, he said.
Cheltenham said he was unaware of how long the inquiry will take, but he stressed that the sessions will be opened to the public.
Now that the Commission has been established, Cheltenham hopes that those witnesses who have awaited its establishment will now come forward so that the process could be completed in a timely manner.
There have been many calls by persons, both in and out of Guyana for the speedy establishment of the Commission of Inquiry. The announcement was first made last year by President Ramotar, while he addressed a Guyanese gathering in the United States.
Subsequent to the swearing in, the Commissioners met with Police Commissioner Leroy Brumell; Chief-of-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Brigadier Mark Phillips; and members of the Private Sector Commission (PSC).
Dr Rodney was 39 years old when a bomb exploded in his lap on June 13, 1980. Reports are that an ex army sergeant, Gregory Smith, planted the bomb that killed the political leader. The then electronics expert, who was using the pseudonym Cyril Johnson, was accused of giving Rodney a walkie –talkie (in which the bomb was concealed) to test on Camp Street, Georgetown outside the metal fence of the Georgetown Prison. It exploded on his lap while he was seated in the car driven by his brother Donald. The Guyana Defence Force had denied that Smith was a serving member of the army until a local paper published his photograph with him dressed in military clothing. Smith, who then fled to French Guiana, said he would have returned to Guyana for a trial or inquiry only if amnesty had been granted. However, France does not extradite persons to their native country where they possibly face the death penalty in the case of a conviction. Smith died 10 years ago.
There have been claims also that Dr Rodney’s assassination was set up by the Forbes Burnham administration, which Rodney had strongly opposed. However, Burnham’s party, the People’s National Congress (PNC) had denied orchestrating the bomb blast. There have been widespread accusations and finger-pointing over the years, thus the call for the Commission of Inquiry.
