Rupert Roopnarine and David Granger
(Guyana Times)Leader of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said contrary to popular belief the evidence he will be giving to the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry will by no means create a rift between his party and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), which is the major partner in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition.
In fact, the political stalwart claims that both the WPA and the PNC had come together, putting aside all their differences for a common goal. He said there is absolutely nothing that will come out in the Inquiry that is not already known to the two parties. “There is nothing that will emerge from this inquiry that will in fact astonish us,” Roopnaraine said on Monday.
The WPA Leader stressed that the two political organisations “knew what we knew” and had at the point of coming together, made a “giant leap in terms of reconciliation by entering into a political partnership.
“We knew what we were doing, and, as I said, there is nothing that would come out of the Commission of Inquiry that will cause us to change our minds,” Dr Roopnaraine, who is also Vice Chairman of APNU, said.
No change in views
The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry will recommence next Tuesday at the Supreme Court Library building in Georgetown. Dr Roopnaraine, along with a few other renowned individuals, has been named to give evidence in the investigation, which seeks to ascertain who or what was responsible for the death of the WPA founding leader, Dr Walter Anthony Rodney, on June 30, 1980.
The WPA has categorically blamed the PNC Government, led by the late Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, for Rodney’s death. According to the WPA, Rodney was very much outspoken on the undemocratic practices of the Government.
“I have had a conversation with Mr Glenn Hanoman, lawyer for the Commission and I told him, yes, I will be coming to testify.” Dr Roopnaraine pointed out that his testimony will provide a broad context of the 1975-1980 period, noting that there will not be any new information, since he has written extensively on the matter, which has been in the public domain over the years. “What I wrote then I believed to be true and I continue to believe it to be true.”
Political context
He said the political environment of that time will be examined. This includes the civil rebellion period, which culminated in June 1980 with the assassination of Dr Rodney. Dr Roopnaraine said he believes that it is very critical that an accurate picture be painted about the political context at the time and the struggles experienced by everyone concerned to build a united front.
But while the WPA Leader remains poised to participate, his political partner and leader of the PNCR, retired Brigadier David Granger has opted not to provide evidence at the Inquiry, despite calls from Government officials for him to do so.
Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General Anil Nandlall had said that Granger would have had an opportunity to exonerate the name of the PNC, with his participation. However, Granger maintained that his reason for not participating is rooted in the Head of State’s unconcern for the issues raised by the PNC over sections of the Commission’s Terms of Reference, and the presence of a Commissioner, Justice Seenath Jairam, on the board of inquiry.
On June 13, 1980, at the age of 38, Dr Rodney, the WPA Co-leader, was killed by a bomb in his car, a month after he returned from the independence celebrations in Zimbabwe and during a period of intense political activism. He was survived by his wife, Patricia, and three children.
His younger brother Donald Rodney, who was injured in the explosion, said a sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force named Gregory Smith had given Walter the bomb that killed him. After the killing, Smith fled to French Guiana, where he died in 2002.
