Guyanese-American and President of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), Rickford Burke, has taken to social media to address what he described as the “outrageously misleading” comments made by Pastor Exton Clarke, President of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Guyana. Clarke, from the pulpit of the SDA Church, claimed that President Irfaan Ali is an advocate for justice and equity in Guyana.
This marks an unprecedented moment in Guyana’s political history. It is the first time the Adventist Church, long known for its commitment to political neutrality, has aligned itself so overtly with a political party. The move has stirred concern among members of the faith, who are questioning whether religious platforms are now being used to further the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) political agenda rather than uphold the core principles of the church.
The SDA Church upholds a principle of political neutrality, encouraging its members to engage in civic duties and political processes while maintaining a focus on spiritual values and not aligning the church with any particular political agenda.
Burke, an SDA member himself, was incensed. “As a Black Guyanese and Seventh Day Adventist, I am offended and embarrassed to hear the Head of the SDA Church in Guyana repeat PPP propaganda in the church that serves no purpose but gaslight the membership. This is shameful. I denounce it!” Burke said.
“He can have his own personal opinion and politics. But he must keep it to himself and not bring it into the church. This is an abomination, and the atrocious mendacious claim is a desecration of the church and its membership.”
It is widely known that Ali and Clarke share a personal relationship, but the extent to which Pastor Clarke is using both the pulpit and that relationship to bolster Ali’s public image and reelection campaign is troubling, not only to Adventists, but to the wider Guyanese public. Many believe such actions undermine the spiritual integrity of the church.
During a recent sermon, Pastor Clarke declared: “President Ali has been an advocate for leadership based on morality, justice, truth, and equity. He is a God-fearing leader, who I believe fears God more than the Office of President.”
That statement did not sit well with Burke. In a scathing rebuttal, he called Clarke’s praise of Ali “a glorification built on falsehood.” Burke — a known social justice advocate who has drawn the ire of the PPP government for highlighting systemic racism and political dysfunction in Guyana — asserted that President Ali’s administration does not stand for justice or equality.
According to Burke, “The PPP party and government have pursued a campaign to impose East Indian racial supremacy in Guyana. They have perpetrated what amounts to genocide against the African Guyanese population by forming and funding death squads that slaughtered over 1,400 young African Guyanese men — without consequence, without justice.”
Burke went further, accusing the Ali administration of purging dozens of SDA public servants solely based on their ethnicity and perceived political affiliation with the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU-AFC) coalition. “Ali’s government is an autocratic ethnocracy that has siphoned off Guyana’s oil wealth for the benefit of a narrow group of ethnic loyalists,” he said. “They are stifling Black survival and economic empowerment. They have tightened a noose of subjugation around the necks of African Guyanese and cut us off from the development of Guyana.”
Incensed, Burke added: “And I can go on and on.”
Burke’s condemnation comes amid a wave of troubling international reports. The World Bank states that, despite Guyana’s oil boom, nearly half the population lives in poverty, surviving on less than US$5.50 (GY$1,200) per day. UNICEF reports that 40% of Guyana’s children suffer from moderate food poverty, consuming only three to four food groups daily, far below the nutritional minimum. Transparency International has noted worsening corruption in 2024, while the United Nations has repeatedly called on the government to investigate hundreds of extrajudicial killings, appeals that remain unanswered. Evidence of economic discrimination in the awarding of government contracts was also presented to the United Nations by the International Decade for People of African Descent Assembly – Guyana (IDPADA-G)
Within the Christian community, many are now expressing alarm that the church is being co-opted by political figures and self-serving clergy. One Christian, citing Matthew 21:13, told this publication, “The church has become a den of thieves — a place of political exploitation rather than a house of prayer and advocate for justice and equality.”
A prominent Adventist member, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal from church leadership, said Clarke’s actions remind him of the church’s historical complicity in slavery: “Back then, the church leadership justified oppression because they stood to benefit. What’s happening now feels eerily similar.”
In closing, Burke called on Adventists to hold their leaders accountable. “We SDA members should not allow our Church leaders to lie to, and gaslight, our members without correcting the record and speaking truth to power,” he said.
