Despite his denial, the Commission of Inquiry believed that then army pilot Gerry Gouveia transported Gregory Smith, the suspected killer of historian Dr Walter Rodney from Kwakwani to Nickerie, Suriname following the death.
In its report, the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) set up to investigate Rodney’s death, said that Gouveia was a Lieutenant in the Guyana Defence Force at the time. He voluntarily and freely admitted that on the morning of June 14th, 1980, he flew his aircraft 8RGER from Timehri to Kwakwani. On that flight, he took Gregory Smith, his girlfriend, Gwendolyn Jones and their children. He left at 9:08 am and arrived at Kwakwani airstrip at 9:57 am, the report said.
It noted that at the time, Gouveia testified that he had not realised that the adult male passenger was Smith. He said that a few days later, he saw a photograph in the Catholic Standard and he then realised that he had flown the same person to Kwakwani, the report said.
“Given the chain of command, he did not fly that aircraft of his own volition but had been instructed by his superiors so to do. He further told us that his commanding officer in 1980 was Lt. Col. Godwin McPherson but he assumed that in June 1980, his commanding officer was Captain Baker,” the report pointed out.
It said that Gouveia testified that at that time of the events, the State controlled the flow of news, implying that he had not seen or heard anything on the government controlled media that Smith was wanted in connection with the death of Rodney.
The report noted that Gouveia’s arrival at Kwakwani on June 14th, 1980 with Smith and his family did not go unnoticed. Several witnesses who lived and worked at Kwakwani saw the GDF aircraft 8RGER at the time Gouveia said he landed, the report said. It identified five witnesses who gave signed statements.
“What is significant is that of the live witnesses who saw Captain Gouveia and Smith and his family on June 14th, 1980, three of them also saw when his aircraft arrived on June 17th, 1980. They all stated that they say his aircraft land at about 9:24 am on that day and left at 10:05 am taking on board Gregory Smith alone,” the report said.
It added that on that very day, Gouveia returned to Timehri at 11:36 am. When that account was put to him, he denied that he flew Smith from Kwakwani to Nickerie, Suriname, the report noted. It said that in attempting to explain the destination of his flight on June 17th, 1980, Gouveia told the Commission that he could not recall based on his memory. However, on perusing his pilot’s log book, it was clear to him that he left Timehri went to Tacama and returned to Timehri on June 17th, 1980, the report pointed out. “On the evidence before the Commission, we find that Gregory Smith was a passenger on the said aircraft on June 14th, 1980 and June 17th, 1980. More importantly, Captain Gouveia admitted that the time stated in his pilot’s logbook was sufficient for him to have gone to Kwakwani and take Gregory Smith to Nickerie provided that all governmental approval was granted,” the report said.
“On the evidence, there is clearly no conflict between the Kwakwani witnesses and Captain Gouveia with respect to the movement of Gregory Smith on June 14th, 1980,” it added.
The CoI had been set up in 2014 by then President Donald Ramotar to determine as far as possible who or what was responsible for the explosion that killed Rodney on June 13, 1980. The CoI has concluded that Rodney was the victim of a State-organised assassination on June 13th, 1980 and this could only have been possible with the knowledge of then PNC Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.
