Khemraj Ramjattan, handed over the Rodney CoI Report to House Speaker, Dr
Barton Scotland
While still not accepting its findings, Government handed over the controversial Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) Report to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland on Wednesday morning and it will soon be up for deliberation in the National Assembly.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams, accompanied by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan, handed over Report within the parliamentary chambers. The document was finally presented just one day before Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira was scheduled to bring a motion to the National Assembly for Government to stop delaying and release the report.
The report compiled the findings of a CoI that was established by former President Donald Ramotar to probe the circumstances surrounding the death of renowned Guyanese and Leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr Walter Rodney, who was killed when a bomb exploded in his lap while he sat in his car on June 13, 1980, during a time of intense political activism.
The document was first presented to the Government in February after close to two years of public hearings.
Addressing the media shortly after handing over the Report, the Attorney General expressed concerns about the “flawed” contents of the report.
“We must recognise that a lot of injustice has been done to certain persons who would have been named during that process and really were not afforded the opportunity during the currency of the inquiry, to give evidence,” he posited, maintaining that there was obviously a clear agenda ahead of the commencement of the public hearings.
Williams also disclosed that in light of the fact that the report implicates the People’s National Congress (PNC) in the assassination of Dr Rodney, the party will soon be calling a press conference to publicly comment on those findings.
The Rodney Report confirmed the age-old belief that Dr Walter Rodney was indeed a victim of a State organised and politically orchestrated conspiracy under what is commonly referred to as the “Burnham Dictatorship”.
A great debate has since erupted over the purpose these revelations really serve, with many contending that millions of taxpayers’ dollars were wasted to uncovered a truth all Guyanese already knew.
Others, however, argued that the contents of the report equates to justice finally being served.
WPA Executive Member David Hinds had blogged that the findings – though they revealed nothing new – make a huge difference, in having the details officially documented.
“We have been vindicated. Walter Rodney lives anew,” Hinds had stated.
Meanwhile, copies of the report were dispatched to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and Dr Rodney’s family, as well as members of the coalition Administration.
