The parties making up the APNU+AFC coalition government are expected to present their views on the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report later this week, according to President David Granger who still has not said when the document will officially be made public.
Granger told reporters yesterday that given that it was a government report, it was felt that the coalition parties should have the first opportunity to read it. Leaked copies of the report have circulated in public for weeks and the contents were reported on extensively by the press including Stabroek News.
Speaking to reporters after swearing in the five members of the Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy at the Ministry of Presidency yesterday, the president said every party in the coalition has been given copies of the document for their comments. “It is now freely available anyway because all of the parties have. We can issue those copies to any other agencies and the Leader of the Opposition so that is not a problem because all of the parties have been given multiple copies,” he said.
Pressed for an answer as to how soon it will be made available to the public, Granger said it was a Government of Guyana commission convened by the president and this is why the parties that make up the government were given copies first. “We expect that by Friday the parties would report on their findings because the parties were asked to discuss it (the report) with their executive and once that it is done, we can give it to other members but since it is a government report we felt that the parties in government should get copies first,” he said.
The president’s statement comes days after the Alliance for Change (AFC), which is a member of the coalition government, called for the report to be released to Rodney’s family and stated that it also supports its early release to the public.
“The AFC is of the view that the report affords the country an opportunity to address a difficult period of its history and hopes that it forms the basis for national healing and reconciliation,” a statement from the party had said.
A key finding of the CoI was that there was a conspiracy involving the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force and others to kill Rodney and the then leader of the PNC, President Forbes Burnham had to be aware of it.
Granger, who is now leader of the PNC’s successor, the PNCR, had denounced the report.
“When you look at details of the evidence provided, it is clear that the report itself is very badly flawed and we intend to challenge the findings of the report and the circumstances under which that report was conducted. That is all I would like to say at this time on that report but it is terribly flawed,” Granger had said sometime after the report was handed over. He had also said he believed the terms of reference of the CoI were prejudicial and the sloth in its completion was unacceptable.
A month ago, Granger had told this newspaper that Cabinet would be making a public comment on the findings as soon as sometime during the following week. He had informed that Cabinet had begun deliberations on the report.
The opposition PPP/C has criticised government for not making the report public.
