The New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) has issued a strongly worded condemnation of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), accusing the government of weaponizing religion and exploiting Christian clergy to advance its political agenda in the lead-up to Guyana’s general elections on September 1.
In a public statement released on Monday, CGID criticized what it described as a deceptive use of Christianity to gather support from African Guyanese and other Christian communities under the guise of a “One Guyana Worship Experience,” which was held at the National Stadium over the weekend. The event, organized by the PPP government and attended by high-ranking officials, featured praise and worship sessions and sermons led by local pastors.
CGID described the initiative as a “subterfuge” intended to rebrand the PPP’s controversial “One Guyana” message, calling the event “blasphemous to Christianity.”
“Christians should not be fooled by this PPP gimmick,” CGID warned, adding that “members of the clergy who are collecting monetary benefits from the PPP to do election campaign work in the Church… are corrupt and craven.”
The organization accused certain pastors of acting as political operatives, accepting funding from the ruling party to manipulate their congregations. “They have been accepting money from evildoers to deliver their church members to the killers,” the CGID statement read. “This is a betrayal of the values of Jesus.”
CGID’s statement referenced the PPP’s historical record, including claims of extrajudicial killings during the 2000s. It alleged that over 1,400 African Guyanese men, many of them Christians, were murdered by state-linked death squads during that period. The group also accused the PPP of systematically denying African Guyanese communities and opposition-controlled regions equitable access to state funds, calling the administration “an ethnocracy” and “the most racist and corrupt government in the Western Hemisphere.”
Further, the organization charged that Guyana’s economic wealth is being disproportionately transferred to the PPP’s ethnic base through what it termed “pervasive procurement fraud.”
The CGID concluded by urging Christians and African Guyanese voters to reject the PPP at the upcoming polls, saying the government’s “evil governance and murderous conduct are antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
To date, the PPP has not publicly responded to the statement.
The “One Guyana Worship Experience” had been promoted by the government as a unifying spiritual event, part of President Irfaan Ali’s broader One Guyana initiative. However, critics have increasingly labeled the campaign as a political branding exercise meant to obscure deep ethnic and economic divides.
As the election season intensifies, the use of faith-based platforms to influence voters is expected to face greater scrutiny, particularly amid rising accusations of state favoritism and political manipulation.
