Guyana’s Republic Day observances were overshadowed Monday morning by the passing of Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, a founding member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), scholar, activist and former government minister. Roopnaraine died at 2:15 a.m. He was 83.
The announcement was made by WPA co-leader Dr. David Hinds during a special “Politics 101 programme” where he delivered an emotional and expansive tribute to his longtime colleague and friend.
“Today, when we should be celebrating our Republican status, we also mourn the loss of one of the leading voices of our post-colonial experience,” Hinds said. “Guyana is better because of Rupert. His death makes Guyana poorer.” The WPA, Hinds said, joins “the rest of Guyana, the Caribbean and the progressive world” in mourning his passing.
A Politics Beyond Race
Dr. Hinds described Roopnaraine as a rare public figure who transcended race and ethnicity in a deeply divided society.“ He never ran away from his East Indian identity,” Hinds said, “but he had a way of transcending race and ethnicity.”
According to Hinds, Roopnaraine was equally comfortable among Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, Amerindians and other communities, a quality that shaped his politics and gave it a distinctive character. He consistently advocated that Guyana could not move forward unless all races moved together, making multi-ethnic unity a central pillar of his political philosophy.
Advocate for National Unity
Hinds highlighted Roopnaraine’s long-standing commitment to multiparty governance and national unity. He recalled that in 1992, amid delays in electoral reforms, the WPA proposed a national interim government involving the PPP, PNC and other forces rather than extending the tenure of the sitting administration. Roopnaraine led the delegation in discussions on that proposal.
Again in 1997, following the constitutional crisis over electronic voter ID cards, Roopnaraine suggested a national government arrangement for the shortened parliamentary term — a proposal that did not materialise.
Hinds said Roopnaraine remained a “consummate advocate” of national government solutions throughout his life.
He was also instrumental in the formation of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), helping to conceptualise what became the coalition’s name. In the 2011 General and Regional Elections, he served as prime ministerial candidate alongside presidential candidate David Granger. That election resulted in the PPP being reduced to a minority government for the first time in Guyana’s history.
Following the coalition’s victory in 2015, Roopnaraine was appointed Minister of Education. Though his tenure was cut short due to health challenges, he later served as presidential adviser on public service.
Scholar, Activist, Renaissance Man
Beyond politics, Roopnaraine was widely regarded as an intellectual giant. A former lecturer at the University of Guyana, he left academia to become a full-time political activist-a personal sacrifice Hinds said that is not widely known. He was detained numerous times during the turbulent 1970s and 1980s and was once charged with arson alongside historian and WPA co-founder Walter Rodney, though he was later freed.
Roopnaraine emerged from the Caribbean radical tradition of the 1970s — steeped in Marxist thought and a distinct Caribbean worldview.
He was also a literary scholar and authority on the poetry of Martin Carter. His creative work extended to filmmaking as a member of the Victor Jara Collective, producing the landmark documentary “The Terror and the Time,” which drew heavily on Carter’s poetry.
Hinds described him as “a giant among giants,” noting that even within a generation of renowned WPA figures, Roopnaraine carved out his own space in the annals of Guyanese political history. Roopnaraine was also a talented cricketer in his youth, playing at a high level while studying at Cambridge University.
A Legacy That Endures
Hinds said that although Roopnaraine had not been active in public life in recent years due to illness, “his very presence, his name, meant something in our politics — unity, civility, intellectual curiosity, bravery.” “Guyana is better because of Rupert,” Hinds reiterated. (Release)
