Mark Benschop has remembered former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) leader Robert Corbin as more than a veteran politician, describing him as a lawyer, supporter and friend who stood beside him during one of the most difficult chapters of his life.

Speaking on his programme, “Straight Up With Mark Benschop,” last evening, Benschop reflected emotionally on Corbin’s role during his treason case and the relationship they maintained despite their political and personal differences.

The Treason Case

Benschop was charged with treason following the July 2002 protest at the Office of the President. He denied involvement in any attempt to overthrow the Government.

His first trial ended in a hung jury in 2004, and he remained imprisoned, in solitary confinement, until then President Bharrat Jagdeo granted him an unconditional pardon in August 2007.

At the time of Benschop’s arrest, Corbin was Chairman of the PNCR, while Desmond Hoyte was party leader. Corbin was among Benschop’s original lawyers, alongside Senior Counsel Hoyte.

Following Hoyte’s death in December 2002, Corbin assumed leadership of the PNCR, was elected in February 2003 and remained leader until 2012.

‘There Will Be No Apology’

Benschop recalled one particularly difficult period when efforts were being made to secure his release. He said Russell Williams told him that Corbin and others had met with then President Jagdeo about the matter and that an apology was being sought.

Benschop refused.

“I said, there will be no apology. I looked in Mr. Corbin’s eyes and I said there will be no apology, none whatsoever, with all due respect.”

He said he saw sadness in Corbin’s eyes but believed Corbin understood the firmness of his position.

“I knew that on that day, it was basically to secure my release,” Benschop said, stressing that he had maintained his position respectfully.

For Benschop, the episode illustrated the complexity of their relationship. They did not always agree, and Corbin knew his views.

“There were times when I don’t necessarily agree with everything Mr. Corbin did, and he knew how I felt.”

But those differences, Benschop said, never erased Corbin’s support.

“But at all times, Mr. Corbin ensured that regardless of what, during the struggle, he has always been there, and he has always, for the most part, been supportive as well.”

‘That’s the Robert Corbin I Want to Remember’

“And so that’s the Robert Corbin that I want to remember,” he said.

Corbin, who died on October 4 at age 78, was a major figure in Guyana’s political history. His political career stretched from the Forbes Burnham era through the leadership of Desmond Hoyte and into the turbulent political years of the early 2000s.

He entered Parliament in 1973 and went on to serve as PNC General Secretary, Chairman and Leader. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister between 1985 and 1992.

But for Benschop, Corbin’s legacy was deeply personal.

He recalled that their last conversation, although not recent, ended with both men smiling and joking about the possibility that they might even have been related.

“Everybody, almost everybody, is somebody,” Benschop recalled.

As Guyana mourns Corbin, Benschop chose to remember not simply the politician and party leader, but the man who stood beside him through years of uncertainty, imprisonment and legal battles.

Their relationship was not defined by agreement on everything. Instead, Benschop remembered a man who could disagree with him, understand his convictions and still remain supportive.

“That’s the Robert Corbin that I want to remember.”

Source: Village Voice News

Dear Editor,

The power to intimidate and terminate employees by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government has created an atmosphere of fear and trepidation.

The current Deputy Commissioner, Fazil Karimbaksh, is facing allegations of rape. It is reported that he has been doing this for a long time.

The reports coming out of Linden are worse, but fear of dismissal hangs over the heads of young female police officers.

Parents have complained about their young daughters being placed on night duties for refusing to give in to the sexual advances of senior officers, or having succumbed due to pressure. This is well known and talked about in Linden.

Then there are also allegations of senior male officers having sexual relationships with young boys at the Block 22 Community Centre, Wismar. These escapades are happening at night.

God forbid, but creeps like these are tarnishing the image of the Police Force. They are the standard-bearers of the PPP brand of leadership—a cabal of corruptors and nastiness.

Yours truly,
Anil Singh

Source: Village Voice News

The death of former People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) leader Robert Herman Orlando Corbin has prompted a deeply personal tribute from Parliamentarian Amanza O.R. Walton, who remembers him not only as a former Deputy Prime Minister, Opposition Leader and party leader, but as a family friend and political mentor whose counsel influenced her journey in public life.

Corbin, known affectionately as “RHO”, died on October 4, 2026, at the age of 78, bringing to an end a political career that spanned decades and included senior positions in government, Parliament and the opposition.

Walton’s relationship with Corbin, however, extended beyond politics. She served as a parliamentarian for the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) in Guyana’s 12th Parliament and now leads the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), serving as the party’s lone parliamentarian in the 13th Parliament.

In a statement mourning his passing, Walton said her connection to Corbin was rooted in longstanding family ties and developed into a relationship in which she valued his guidance at important moments in her political life.

“I learned with deep sadness of the passing of Robert Herman Orlando Corbin, CCH, fondly called RHO by those who knew and loved him. To the nation he was a former Deputy Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the People’s National Congress Reform. To me he was a family friend and a mentor, and it is in that capacity that I wish to remember him today.”

She said the relationship between their families predated her political career, with Corbin’s father having grown up alongside her paternal grandparents.

That history, she said, shaped the manner in which Corbin related to her.

“When he offered his counsel, it carried more than the interest of a senior statesman in a younger politician. It carried the care of someone who had known me since I was a child, and my parents before me.”

Walton recalled that Corbin was not someone who sought to constantly impose himself, but whose advice appeared at what she described as “pivotal junctures” in her political life.

“Mr. Corbin was not a voice I heard from every day. He was a voice that arrived at the pivotal junctures.”

She said his advice was sometimes unsolicited, but that she eventually came to recognise the value of counsel that was offered without being requested.

“He gave of his time and his wisdom freely to someone who had no claim on either, and he asked nothing in return,” she said.

Among Corbin’s qualities, Walton singled out what she regarded as his willingness to relinquish political power when he believed it was in the wider interest of his party and the political movement.

She pointed specifically to 2011, when Corbin declined to seek the presidency and opened the selection of the PNCR’s presidential candidate to a primary process before making way for new leadership.

“That decision was not a retreat. It was leadership in its rarest form, measured not by what a man keeps but by what he is willing to release for the sake of something larger than himself.”

Walton also credited Corbin’s role in advancing coalition politics, particularly his work alongside Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, saying it helped create conditions that contributed to the opposition’s eventual change of government in 2015.

“History will record that the coalition politics he championed alongside Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, and the room he made for others, helped lay the foundation for the change of government in 2015.”

She said Corbin’s contribution was reflected in developments that occurred even after he had withdrawn from frontline political leadership.

“Much of what he built bore fruit after he had stepped back. I believe he understood that this is exactly how the work of a true builder is meant to look.”

For Walton, Corbin’s death represents the loss of a trusted source of wisdom.

“I shall miss his counsel. I shall miss knowing that somewhere there was a seasoned voice ready with a word of wisdom at the moment it was most needed.”

She extended condolences to Corbin’s wife, Carol, his daughter Fidela and siblings, his brother Charles, and the wider family.

“May he rest in peace,” Walton said

Source: Village Voice News

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