We have entered the dark zone once again
(Kaieteur News) – The police account of the incident in which shots were fired in Kitty at a vehicle in which was the leader of the opposition, brings back haunting and uncomfortable memories of one of the darkest eras of Guyana. And it specifically brings back memories of the assassinations of WPA activists, Ohene Koama, Edward Dublin and Walter Rodney.
Ohene Koama was shot and killed in Georgetown by the police on November 28, 1979. He was just 36 years old. The police version of the killing was officers had seen Koama place a bulky bag in the trunk of his vehicle. When they approached him, he allegedly pulled a firearm from the bag. The police then shot and killed him.
However, residents who said they witnessed the incident gave a substantially different account. They reportedly said that Koama had just turned into Roxanne Burnham Gardens, where he lived, when two police vehicles approached, one in front and one behind. As he got out of his car, plainclothes policemen opened fire. Eusi Kwayana, the WPA’s co-founder, had testified that residents described the shooting as being carried out in cold blood.
The residents challenged the police account on two grounds. First, the size of the firearm described by police was such that it could not fit into the car’s trunk. Second, the rifle would have had to be assembled before it could be fired.
What makes the incident particularly significant is that the police claimed Koama had been carrying a cache of weapons in the trunk of his car, but subsequent testimony raised serious questions about the police version of events. Years later, evidence before the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry introduced an even more disturbing allegation that the weapons had been planted in his vehicle as part of a planned assassination.
During the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry in January 2015, a former security person testified that had operated as a double agent within the WPA, passing information to the state. He also said – and which was known publicly – that the PNC government had a death squad. This witness said that he was warned by a member of the death squad to distance himself from Koama because there was a plot to kill him. He indicated that the purpose of planting weapons was to portray the intended victim as dangerous, thereby providing the police with a justification for killing him. This it was said was an established practice of the death squad.
Koama’s killing was not an isolated incident in the history of the WPA’s confrontation with the Burnham dictatorship. A few months later in February 1980, Edward Dublin, another WPA activist was shot and killed. And in June of the same year, Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated.
During the political protests following the 1997 elections, a grenade was thrown into the building housing the studio of NTN Channel 69. A security guard was killed. A PNCR activist who had attended Saint Stanislaus College was said to have masterminded the operation.
But the PPPC has also been accused of engaging in acts of political violence. Following the 1997 protests, there was an explosion at the Pegasus Hotel. Despite the commotion caused and the evacuation of the building, one of the guests remained locked in his room and did not respond despite repeated attempts to get him out of his room. This person who died years later, was close to persons in the PPPC leadership. He was suspected of taking the device into the hotel.
Years later, on March 10, 2015, Courtney Crum-Ewing, aged 40, was walking through Diamond with a bullhorn, urging residents to vote against the incumbent PPP/C government in the May 11 elections. Residents reported hearing an initial gunshot followed by four shots in rapid succession. His body was found at the intersection of Third Avenue and Back Street. He had been shot five times. Fingers were pointed at the PPPC over that assassination.
Guyana must never return to the dark era of state-sponsored violence, when political opponents could be targeted, intimidated or even marked for assassination. The recent reported shooting incident at the vehicle in which the Leader of the Opposition was, demands an independent and credible investigation.
If the Government has nothing to hide, it should have nothing to fear from an impartial inquiry. Indeed, it should welcome one as an opportunity to dispel suspicion and establish the truth. Some quiet but firm prodding from the foreign diplomatic missions would also be welcome in forcing the government to establish such an investigation.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Source: Kaieteur News
