THE Ministry of Home Affairs, on Friday, said a statement from the APNU+AFC in support of overseas-based social media commentator, Rickford Burke, has come as no surprise.
“Burke is well known for his racist rantings and race hate writings using social media and other platforms, in his persistent attempts to incite racial and ethnic hostilities among the citizens of Guyana,” the ministry said in a statement.

Recently, the Guyana Police Force said that it has unearthed damning evidence implicating Burke and two reporters in a conspiratorial scheme to extort money from businessmen in Guyana. The two reporters have both implicated Burke as part of this criminal enterprise. As a result, a wanted bulletin has been issued for Burke.

“Rather than stand on the side of law and order and with the victims of this criminal extortionist plot, the APNU+AFC, true to form, chose the side of criminality. One would recall the draping of the national flag across the coffin of notorious criminal Linden ‘Blackie’ London, their connections with the infamous five escapees from the 2001 jailbreak and their relationship with that marauding gang of criminals hiding out in Buxton backlands and holding that village at ransom – just to mention a few,” the statement said.

The ministry noted that the APNU+AFC claims that they have reviewed the evidence, and has apparently taken it upon themselves to usurp the function of the statutory role of the Guyana Police Force.
“It is difficult to even understand what ‘evidence’ they have reviewed and how they became privy to the evidence in the possession of the Guyana Police Force. The Government of Guyana restates its commitment to use all the lawful powers and facilities available to the State to address crime and criminality both within and beyond its borders. Burke is no exception,” the statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs concluded.