By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Wayne Munroe criticised former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis in Parliament yesterday, accusing him of making “a poor joke about rape victims”.

Dr Minnis brought whistles to the lower chamber, telling the women parliamentarians he got each of them a whistle.

Dr Minnis alluded to his successor’s comments in 2020 about how the government should provide women and children with complimentary whistles.

Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, then the leader of the Official Opposition, was roundly mocked for the recommendation, even though experts accept whistles as a tool to prevent sexual assaults.

During his contribution to the debate on the Central Bank of The Bahamas (Amendment) Bill yesterday, Dr Minnis said he was concerned by the violence in the country.

He asked: “How many whistles has the prime mister given to our females to deter criminals? Madame Speaker, (according) to the prime minister’s statement, government should provide women with whistles to help deter crime. How many females have gotten their whistles? Madame Speaker, I say if these questions are not answered in a timely manner, then I may be forced to release information in my position.” Near the end of his contribution, Dr Minnis took out a whistle and told the women parliamentarians he brought a whistle for each of them.

“I want to help the Prime Minister,” he said. “I brought a gift for the women in this parliament. All the women. Madame Speaker, I’ll start with you. The Prime Minister said that in order to deter crime, he recommended government should provide women with a whistle to blow to deter crime. Madame Speaker, I have everybody’s whistle to ensure that every female adheres to what the prime minister wants (them) to do.”

During his contribution, Mr Munroe chastised the former Prime Minister.

“Killarney, when he was here, told a poor joke about rape victims of all things and that he has brought whistles now,” he said. “When they were in power, he should’ve recruited policemen. He should’ve bought police cars.”

St Anne’s MP Adrian White tried to get Mr Munroe’s comments struck from the record, insisting Dr Minnis never joked about rape. Mr Munroe replied: “Let me be quite full in what Killarney said because it was and is distasteful.”

He added: “Madame Speaker, you know I said to one of my colleagues on this side, I’ve really had enough of the self-righteousness of the people on the opposite side. The member for Killarney raised an article that related to rape victims and the use of whistles to deter rape. That is what he did in this place. We told him when he first said it that it wasn’t in good taste, and in the end, in laughter, he talked about having a whistle for you and having a whistle for Elizabeth. It was in poor taste.

“It amazed me that it was said by a man who had the ability to buy police vehicles and not let us have to buy 100 of them; a man who had the ability to recruit police officers so that we’re not recruiting two and two and a half squads per year. That man has the gall to come in here and talk about he’s going to give you a whistle. Yes, St Anne’s, it’s not funny, it’s not amusing, and it really ought never to have been said.”