The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) yesterday called again on the government to release the report on the commission of inquiry into the killing of its leader, historian Dr Walter Rodney.
In a statement issued yesterday, the party also maintained that Rodney was murdered at the direction of the government of the day – headed by the now PNCR, the main component in the governing coalition – and by forces aligned to the state because of his political activity.
The call came in wake of a recent report on Rodney’s widow, Patricia Rodney, repeating her own call for the government to formally release the report of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that had been initiated under the former administration and for the authorities to act on the recommendations.
The party noted that in the Stabroek News report on her call, there is a suggestion that the WPA is against the release of the report and is somehow in a conspiracy with the government to suppress it.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. It is no secret that the issue of Walter Rodney’s assassination and the abrupt termination of the CoI by President [David] Granger upon his assumption of office in May 2015 remains one of the sore points in the relationship between the WPA and the leadership of the PNC and the government,” the party said.
The party added that it has tried hard not to allow the President’s partisan attitude to the Rodney CoI and its findings to undermine the stability of the coalition and that in so doing, some have misread its attitude and feelings on the issue.
“WPA has never wavered on its firm belief that our brother was murdered at the direction of the government of the day and by forces aligned to the State because of its political activity. His assassination was part of a reign of terror by the then regime against progressive and revolutionary forces, in particular the WPA which had openly and courageously challenged the it. Two other WPA members, Ohene Koama and Edward Dublin, along with Catholic priest, Fr. Bernard Darke, were also cut down by the regime during that period. The findings of the CoI confirm what we know to be the truth. It is an undeniable fact that Rodney has been victimized both in life and death by the actions and inactions of successive Guyanese governments. This is a painful reminder of the coarseness of Guyanese politics and a political culture that is hostile to mature and civilised human relations,” the party noted.
When the CoI was terminated, it added, WPA leaders berated the president and the government for what it saw as “a narrow partisan act” that was unbecoming of a leader of a multi-party government. “At the urging of Mrs. Rodney, WPA again adds its voice in support of her call on the Guyana government to formally make public the report of the CoI. We also support her call for the implementation of the recommendations. Whatever the feelings of the President and his party about the findings, they should no longer hide the report from the Guyanese people. By continuing to suppress the report, they are unnecessarily prolonging this sad chapter in our country’s history. We reiterate our historical position that all outstanding issues relevant to this matter that negatively affect the Rodney family be addressed by the government and the State,” it added.
Towards this end, the WPA said it intends to formally engage the president on the issue, while noting that the matter of Rodney’s assassination is unfinished business for the party.
Meanwhile, the party also sought to address “cheap criticisms” of the WPA’s membership in the APNU and the governing APNU+AFC coalition.
It suggested that Rodney’s name is being used for cheap political gains by political hypocrites, who are now singing Walter Rodney’s praises although they never joined his cause when he was alive or in the difficult period following his assassination. “These same people today maliciously try to tie WPA’s membership of the APNU and the APNU+AFC government to a fictitious betrayal of Walter Rodney and our party’s core principles. They have made that line part of their narrative aimed at breaking up the Coalition,” it said, before adding that it will not allow its critics to misrepresent what Rodney stood for.
The party reminded that in 1979, Rodney was one of the key architects of the WPA’s proposals for a “Government of National Unity and Reconstruction,” which was aimed at putting an end to one-party governance.
“WPA’s movement, therefore, towards partnership with other political forces with which we differ ideologically and politically is consistent with the Rodneyite principle of national unity and reconciliation. WPA continues to believe that ultimately only a broad-based government of all political forces under a power sharing government could bring the desired healing that our country cries out for. But in the meantime, we are prepared to work with all forces that are committed to incrementally work towards that end. We see the APNU and the APNU+AFC as avenues to a genuine Government of National Unity and Reconstruction,” the party added.
It further said it has not joined any party but has only joined with other parties in pursuit of one of its core principles—national unity and reconstruction—while adding that it has not diminished the party’s independence. It pointed out that some of its leading members have publicly and consistently taken the coalition to task on key issues over the last five years and added that they will continue to speak out against wrongdoing and in support of a wholesome politics. “WPA’s participation in the Coalition is not grounded in blind loyalty to any other party—our loyalty is to Guyana and the pursuit of a wholesome politics,” it noted.
It also pointed to the WPA’s Cash Transfer proposal, saying it has brought to the fore the WPA’s independence of thought and the ideological difference between the WPA and its partners. “Our stand with the poor and the powerless is not premised on cheap electoralism, academic abstraction or political gimmickry, but on a deep commitment to a humanist politics. But our ideological difference does not blind us to a larger need for national consensus. We respect diversity and plurality as key components of Guyana’s political and socio-economic reality. It was one of our leaders, Professor Clive Thomas who in 2005 opined that the real test of a party’s mettle is not how well it works with those with whom it agrees, but by its ability to find common ground with those with whom it does not share the same values and culture,” the party said, while adding that it has recommitted to the Coalition as a matter of national duty.
