The Walter Rodney Inquiry dominated the news last week. The evidence given and hopefully to be given by former and current activists of the WPA and the participation of the PNCR, suggest that the Inquiry will be provided with material, information and oral evidence, to enable it to arrive at a credible conclusion. The Commissioners have already acquitted themselves with dignity and have displayed firmness. The Commission has not been detained by objections to its determination of its own procedure by relaxing the rules evidence as to hearsay, which is a widely adopted practice by COIs. Concern about the Chairman’s impartiality because of a speech at a memorial service for Walter Rodney decades ago, which was apolitical, contained nothing prejudicial against any person or group and expressed sentiments that would have been shared by most Caribbean nationals, have rightly been dismissed.

Walter Rodney’s death could never be understood without knowing of the formation, composition, agenda and activities of the WPA. These must be presented in evidence if the Commission is to have a full and adequate picture of the era. To buttress this evidence the Commission also needs to have copies of all the statements issued by the WPA, all the editions of Dayclean and Open Word, all the relevant statements made by the PNCR and Burnham and a list and analysis of the activities, meetings, rallies of the WPA, collaborative activities with the PPP and other groups and their outcomes. Broad statements so far given by Karen De Souza and Eddie Rodney, though important, are not by themselves sufficient. Proof of the atmosphere of fear, intimidation, violence and terror that pervaded that era must be laid bare before the Commission.

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