Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 19, 2016 News
…Says treatment of COI Commissioners “unpardonable”
Former President Donald Ramotar says that he is extremely disturbed and disappointed with the way the
APNU+AFC regime has treated the Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances that led to the assassination of Walter Rodney.
This Commission, he reminded, had the mandate to identify those responsible for Rodney’s murder.
Ramotar said that as is well known, Walter Rodney was one of Guyana’s most renounced scholars and revolutionists. He said that the great orator was not just a patriot, but a man who commanded the respect of the International community. He emphasized that the Guyana scholar was also held in very high esteem among the fighters for social emancipation in the Caribbean region and further afield, particularly in Africa.
The Former President said that the circumstances surrounding his untimely death have left a gaping wound in the conscience of the Guyanese society. He asserted that it has also damaged the reputation of the country among democratic and peace-loving people in the world.
Ramotar recalled that when he established the Commission of Inquiry, it was with the hope that its work would bring closure to “this horrible episode in our country and heal the wound to this nation’s conscience.”
The Executive Member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) said that the Inquiry was also aimed at bringing closure to the family, whose sufferings over the years can only be imagined.
Ramotar expressed, “I had hoped that bringing out the truth would have helped to heal many of the rifts that exist in our society. After many consultations I appointed three eminent legal personalities from our Region to undertake that important assignment.”
The politician said that unfortunately, from the beginning, the APNU/AFC government showed great hostility to the Rodney Commission. He said that the Government brought the inquiry to a premature end after millions were already spent on this project.
He opined, “They seem uninterested in getting to the truth or are afraid to have the truth exposed.”
Ramotar said that many important persons were still to be heard from while testimonies by others were incomplete.
The former President said that the regime not only denied the Commissioners the time to question many of the players of that time, but its treatment of the Commissioners when they came to present their report from the work done, was unpardonable.
Ramotar said, “They (the Commissioners) could not meet the President and the Attorney General (Basil Williams) described their delivery of the report to his office as disrespectful. It was later revealed that it was Mr. Williams who requested that the report be taken to his office. This is an insult to our Caribbean legal professionals. The regime only pays lip service to Caribbean unity and togetherness.”
The PPP Executive Member questioned, “Why this type of behaviour 36 years after Walter Rodney’s brutal murder?”
He said that it would appear as though the PNC-led APNU/AFC regime is preparing to reject the Commission’s report and to continue to dishonour the memory of Walter Rodney.
He said that it will only go down as another “shameful page in the conduct of our affairs by this de facto regime.”
It was only a few days ago that members of the Walter Rodney Commission Seenath Jairam, S.C and Sir Richard Cheltenham, attempted to explain the circumstances surrounding the handing over of the final report of the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry.
In a detailed statement, Commissioner Seenath Jairam, S.C, reassured that the reason the report was not handed over to President David Granger and to the Office of the Attorney General instead, was because they received instructions to do so, because President Granger was unavailable at the time.
He revealed that he was advised by the Attorney General to deliver the Report to his office.
“As the Commissioners we felt that it would be improper and inappropriate to deliver a Presidential Report to the Office of the Attorney General, and that we should try to discover when the President could receive us. With that in mind, the Chairman Sir Richard Cheltenham did try twice unsuccessfully to reach the President.”
LISTEN HOW JAGDEO WILL MAKE ALL GUYANESE RICH!!!
Apr 23, 2024
Kaieteur Sports – Over the weekend, the prestigious Lusignan Golf Club played host to the highly anticipated AMCHAM Golf Tournament, drawing golf enthusiasts and professionals alike from across...Kaieteur News – Just recently, the PPC determined that it does not have the authority to vitiate a contract which was... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]