July 2, 2025 | Georgetown, Guyana – A groundbreaking new study has revealed that 90% of the heads of Guyana’s government corporations and semi-autonomous agencies were appointed by the ruling PPP government from a single ethnic group, East Indians, while African Guyanese were almost entirely excluded from top leadership roles.
The bombshell findings come from a joint investigative project launched by the New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) and the Guyanese Diaspora Organizations of the United States, headquartered in Washington, DC.
The study was initiated following denials by the PPP government in response to formal complaints filed by CGID with the United Nations Human Rights Commission and the United States Department of State. The complaints accuse the PPP administration, led by President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, of advancing discriminatory policies that marginalize African Guyanese across economic, political, and developmental spheres.
KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY INCLUDE;
•90% of state agencies and corporations are headed by East Indians appointed by the PPP regime.
•African Guyanese were appointed to lead only five entities: the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC), the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), and the Guyana National Printers Limited (GNPL).
•Disciplined services (Police, Fire, Prisons) are led by African Guyanese only due to longstanding career progression norms,cnot political appointments.
•The government has allegedly been fast-tracking East Indians with less experience into top-tier positions within the military and civil service, bypassing qualified African Guyanese professionals.
•No diversity benchmarks or frameworks appear to exist in the selection or vetting of state leadership appointments under the PPP government.
The report asserts that these findings present a disturbing pattern of what can only be described as state-sponsored ethnic favoritism, a strategy that rewards political loyalty and reinforces ethnic control over public resources.
CGID President Rickford Burke minced no words. “The PPP is running a government of exclusion. They are obsessed with hoarding power and resources within their political base, and that base is ethnic. They have created a system where qualifications don’t matter, race does,” Burke said.
He blasted the Ali-Jagdeo administration for what he called “an anti-Black agenda, rooted in old prejudices and modern political opportunism.”
“When we raise these issues internationally, they tell us we lack evidence. Well, here is the evidence. These are not opinions. These are facts, and they cannot be dismissed,” Burke said, holding up the study’s findings as irrefutable proof of systemic discrimination.
Burke questioned the PPP’s much-touted “One Guyana” campaign, asking whether that slogan was ever intended to include African Guyanese.
“Are there no qualified Black professionals in Guyana who can lead a government agency? Of course there are. This is not about merit. This is about maintaining ethnic domination of state power,” he said.
The report also criticizes the lopsided distribution of government contracts, which it claims go overwhelmingly to East Indian businesses aligned with the PPP. Infrastructure projects and development initiatives, the study notes, are disproportionately funneled into PPP strongholds, while predominantly African Guyanese communities are neglected.
CGID is urging Guyanese citizens to treat these revelations as a wake-up call ahead of the September 1, 2025 general elections. Burke concluded, “Carry these facts into the voting booth. This isn’t just about who gets a job. It’s about who gets dignity, inclusion, and a stake in the future of this country.”
