Friday, May 16, 2025
By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Chief Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
FORMER Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said a lack of urgency from Bahamian women and indifference from male politicians have allowed the status quo on the country’s discriminatory citizenship laws to persist.
His comment yesterday came three years after he said he expected the Davis administration to change citizenship laws and criminalise marital rape — neither of which the administration has shown an appetite to do.
“The government has its own priorities, and there has been no public pressure of consequence to cause the government to move in one direction or the other,” Mr Ingraham said yesterday. “The women of The Bahamas have not stepped up to the plate, as educated as y’all are, and said we demand our equal rights. No, they haven’t done so, and clearly the men who are in politics are not gonna go out of their way to have you all who are better educated than we are, more prepared than we are, but of course we have this dominant role in public life, so why do you expect these men, unless you push them, to change?”
Children born outside the country to a Bahamian woman and a foreign man are not automatically granted Bahamian citizenship. Bahamian women also lack the same rights as men in securing citizenship for a foreign spouse.
After the Privy Council affirmed in 2023 that people born out of wedlock to Bahamian men are Bahamians at birth regardless of their mother’s nationality, advocates expected the government to address remaining inequalities.
The equality issue has been put to a public vote twice. In 2002, under Mr Ingraham’s leadership, a referendum sought to give Bahamian women the same rights as men to pass on citizenship. It failed, in part due to opposition from the then-Progressive Liberal Party. A second attempt in 2016, under the Christie administration, also failed after a contentious campaign marked by conservative resistance.
Since taking office in 2021, the Davis administration has acknowledged the need for reform. In 2022, Prime Minister Philip Davis expressed support for amending the Bahamas Nationality Act to address gender-based disparities. That same year, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the government would introduce legislation to allow men and women equal rights to transmit citizenship in all cases.
But Mr Pinder’s tone has since shifted. Last year, he said buy-in from “the collective” was critical before changes could progress.
The Minnis administration had also pledged to reform citizenship laws but did not follow through.
Comments
tetelestai says...
Slightly disagree with Hubert regarding the political characterisation.
Two PMs - himself included - from two different political parties brought this issue to the people via referendum. Both times the referendum were soundly defeated (Ingraham's referendum was set up to fail, and he should have known better - but that is a story for a different time).
I agree with the women's characterisation. In the main, Bahamian women do not care about this issue - for whatever reason (with both referenda, less than 50% of women voted in favour). Sure, some upper crust women (Holowesko, Sharon Wilson) and some so-called freedom fighters (the overly mean-spirited Alicia *something or other*) raise the topic. But clearly this is a niche issue, that the rank-and-file Bahamian woman doesn't care about. Not sure why. (And no, blaming husbands or the church is pedantic, childish drivel.)
He is right, however, that absent a groundswell in support, politicians will not touch this issue with a ten-foot pole.
Posted 16 May 2025, 11:01 a.m. Suggest removal
LastManStanding says...
>upper crust
I think you've highlighted the bigger problem: most of the Bahamian political class is completely disconnected and out of touch with the needs and concerns of the average Bahamian. The average Bahamian, man or woman, is either 1.) working a service job for some meagre salary 2.) busting their backside to keep a small business profitable or 3.) underemployed, unemployed, retired etc. Issues like citizenship are just completely irrelevant and nowhere near the top of the list of the average Bahamian's needs and concerns, which mostly revolve around trying to make ends meet. For the most part the people that hyperfocus on these select social issues don't have to worry about trying to stay financially afloat in a very expensive country.
Posted 16 May 2025, 6:16 p.m. Suggest removal
ExposedU2C says...
Bingo!
Posted 17 May 2025, 1:26 p.m. Suggest removal
birdiestrachan says...
The Fnm papa has no shame
He and his Fnm party during their term in office could have passed these bills . He is busy campaign. This is the man who stood on the house floor and said Bahamians need not apply to buy Btc some may think he is great but when his measure is taken he will come up very short
Posted 16 May 2025, 12:12 p.m. Suggest removal
Porcupine says...
The solution to this, and many other problems here, is quite simple.
Pass a law that states that ANYONE who has even been in politics in The Bahamas, can never participate in politics again.
Right from the start, it is impossible that things would not improve.
The chances of getting a more dishonest, incompetent, immoral, lying, self-serving, greedy, arrogant, uneducated, uncouth, and downright criminally oriented group of people to lead this country is extremely low.
Hell, even if we randomly place recent high school graduates, with no experience of any kind, into key positions, including as Prime Minister, we could do no worse than the sordid group of people we now have at the helm of this once great nation.
Who sold the only cash cow we had in this country?
To a company a relative was involved with.
And, have we seen a real benefit to the sale of BTC?
Nope. Worser service, lesser staff, a few million in profit for the deal makers.
Yes, or no?
But, we're still listening to these people.
Posted 17 May 2025, 8:07 a.m. Suggest removal
ExposedU2C says...
You would think Hubiggity by now would have accepted that he is an even more extinct political dinosaur than Tyrant Minnis.
I almost didn't bother to read the article when I saw his photo and suspect very few give him the time of day anymore. He, like Tyrant Minnis, just doesn't know it. LOL
Posted 17 May 2025, 1:38 p.m. Suggest removal
quavaduff says...
The fact that we are even discussing this is an indictment on the Bahamas. There should be no question that a Bahamian woman has the same rights and privileges of a Bahamian man. The Bahamas will not move forward until it corrects these asinine medieval laws.
Posted 18 May 2025, 9 a.m. Suggest removal
bogart says...
Shameful that these best learned Legislators have been as babies borne by mothers for months at great pains, sacrifices, back pains eating plenty sardines and to have delivered these wonderful sons, raising dem with the best broughupsy with highest morals and respects for females ----- to have these Legislators first pass laws to protect CONCHS PROTECTION LAWS ----- mulluscs----- LOBSTER PROTECTION LAWS ----- and our beloved Bahamalans mothers, still needs laws of RIGHTS and EQUALITY for our women, the same as the Bahamian men.
Posted 18 May 2025, 1:26 p.m. Suggest removal
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