The passing of Rupert Roopnarine on February 23, 2026 carries a symbolism that should not be lost on Guyanese. February 23 is not an ordinary day in our national story. It marks the Berbice Slave Rebellion, when enslaved Africans rose in defiance against the brutality of colonial domination. It is also the day in 1970 when Guyana became a Republic, breaking the final constitutional ties to the British monarchy and charting a path toward full self-determination.
To my mind it is fitting that Rupert’s life closed on a date that symbolises resistance and the continuing quest for freedom.
Many will speak about Rupert the playwright or Rupert the politician. I knew Rupert also as a comrade and a friend. I urge fellow Guyanese to reflect on Rupert Roopnarine the man, seriously, not merely through what others say about him but through the depth of thought and struggle he represented in Guyana’s political life.
We are living in serious times when the structure of our political system appears increasingly distorted in ways that benefit only a few. In such times it becomes even more important to reflect honestly on those who tried, in their own way, to challenge power and expand the democratic space.
Rupert was one of the early founders of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a movement that emerged in the 1970s and challenged the government of Forbes Burnham and his People’s National Congress (PNC). Whether one agrees with that struggle or not it must be acknowledged as part of our history.
From my own conversations with Rupert over the years I can say he never shied away from difficult discussions about the role he and his party played in Guyana’s politics during those turbulent times.
Rupert himself acknowledged that the WPA at one point contemplated acquiring arms as part of the struggle to remove the government from office. The story often told about the alleged role of the WPA in the destruction of the Ministry of National Development also contains gaps. Rupert told myself and Andrew Garnett that the WPA burnt that building.
The question that remains for us today is whether Guyana has ever seriously engaged Rupert in national conversations on these and other matters. I believe deeply that he would not have shied away from speaking his truth. History demands that we ask those questions honestly if we are to understand ourselves as a people. Those moments remind us that political struggle in Guyana has always been complex and layered.
Rupert’s thinking also evolved over time. Long before the coalition politics that contested the elections of 2006, 2011 and thereafter with the PNC as the major partner, Roopnarine suggested that Guyanese may have misinterpreted aspects of the leadership of Burnham and argued that our historical understanding required deeper reflection and correction.
Beyond politics Rupert contributed significantly to the labour movement. As Principal of the Critchlow Labour College he worked closely with trade unions and brought serious thought to labour education and the empowerment of workers. Many of his ideas were never fully documented not because they lacked value but because the institutional capacity to record them was limited.
I witnessed firsthand his commitment in 2006 when we worked together around activities marking the 80th anniversary of the Caribbean Labour Movement. Rupert demonstrated the intellectual strength and organisational ability to engage participants locally and internationally, strengthening solidarity among workers across the region.
Rupert has gone to the Great Beyond but his work must not be interred with his bones. His contributions to this nation, good, bad and indifferent, must be honestly documented and analysed for posterity. The Rupert Roopnarine I knew would have wanted it no other way.
The history of Rupert must be written with the courage to confront the truth. Rupert Roopnarine was one of the serious thinkers of his generation and among the few honest politicians. Agree with him or disagree, his life deserves serious reflection.
That he passed on February 23, the day that symbolises both rebellion and republican freedom in Guyana, is a reminder that the struggle for dignity, democracy and self determination is never finished.
May his soul rest in peace.
