Walter Rodney was assassinated by Gregory Smith, a sergeant of the Guyana Defence Force, by means of an explosive device, on June 13, 1980. Smith was acting on behalf of the State of Guyana. Rodney was Burnham’s most prominent victim but there were others, including from the Working Peoples’ Alliance (WPA), the political party that Rodney helped to form and of which he was one of its leaders. The Commission of Inquiry (COI) into Rodney’s assassination concluded on April 22, 2014: “We have no hesitation in holding that Gregory Smith was responsible for Dr. Walter Rodney’s death on 13 June, 1980 and that in so doing he was acting as an agent of the State having been aided and abetted so to do, by individuals holding positions of leadership in State agencies and committed to carrying out the wishes of the PNC administration.” The COI also determined that the assassination could not have occurred without the knowledge of then Prime Minister Burnham.
Continue reading “WALTER RODNEY, “A REVOLUTIONARY OF OUR TIME.””THE ART OF THE DEAL
The heavy fall a few days ago of 80-year-old President Biden, after stumbling on a sandbag in his path, does not reflect the quality of his negotiating skills. President Biden was faced with the need for congressional support in the US House of Representatives, in which the Democratic Party is in the minority, to extend the US debt limit. He demonstrated a stealthy but formidable capacity which wrestled a deal from a Republican majority, straining at the leash to register a salutary defeat against the Democratic President before the presidential elections next year. He then addressed the nation from the Oval Office and praised his Republican opponents, led by Speaker McCarthy, who is beholden to the fiercest reactionaries in the Republican Conference. President Biden negotiated the deal from under the noses of an aggressive Republican majority at the last minute, as they feared being accused of harming the US economy.
Continue reading “THE ART OF THE DEAL”MAHDIA
Leading up to the 57th Anniversary of Guyana’s Independence, a searing tragedy occurred in which fire destroyed the girls’ dormitory of the Mahdia Secondary School and took the lives of 19 children, all but one being girls. This catastrophic event transformed the observance of Guyana’s Independence into a remembrance for the children who had tragically lost their lives. The children are: Mary and Martha Dandrade (twin sisters), Bibi Rita Jeffrey, Sabrina John, Loreen Evans, Belnisa Evans, Omefia Edwin, Natalie Bellarmine, Andrea Roberts, Lorita Williams, Nickleen Robinson, Sherena Daniels, Eulanda Carter, Lisa Roberts, Cleoma Simon, Tracil Thomas, Delicia Edwards and Ariana Edwards (sisters) and five-year old Adonijah Daniels. Memorial events have been held for the children countrywide and all Guyanese are in sympathy and solidarity with the parents, relatives and friends of the children.
Continue reading “MAHDIA”LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS
Notwithstanding the controversies that have bedeviled the processes leading up to local government elections, it appears as if Guyana will have a date with local democracy on June 12. While local government elections are carefully watched by those interested in public affairs, including the media, the voting public has generally yawned at the prospect. In Guyana and elsewhere the turnout is generally in the vicinity of just above 30 percent. This being the case, the most that can be said about the results is that they indicate a trend. The 61 percent vote for the PPP and 34 percent for APNU on a 36 percent turnout in 2018 merely indicated a trend for national election results. The PPP won and APNU lost, but each by a hair’s breadth, and only after a monumental struggle against election rigging.
Continue reading “LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS”TREADING IN MURKY WATERS
Some weeks ago, the Chief Justice found that the Local Content Secretariat, a regulatory agency, had wrongly refused to issue a Local Content Certificate to Ramps Logistics. The Chief Justice ordered that the certificate be issued within a week. Two weeks ago, Justice Sandil Kissoon found that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), also a regulatory agency, had breached its statutory duty in failing to ensure EEPGL’s compliance with condition 14 of the Environmental Permit (Renewed) to obtain an unlimited liability guarantee from the parent company or an affiliate company. The Judge gave the EPA five days to issue the required notice to EEPGL under the EPA Act. There was no appeal in the Ramps Logistics case. The appeal in the EPA case will determine if Justice Kissoon was right.
Continue reading “TREADING IN MURKY WATERS”