EDITOR, The Tribune.
In the news story on May 2 regarding the invitation sent to the YES Bahamas campaign to a live television debate on the gender equality referendum, I noticed that the purpose of Bill 3 is incorrectly stated.
It said: “Bill three would grant any unmarried Bahamian man the right to pass on his Bahamian citizenship to any child he fathers with a foreign woman with proof of paternity.”
The intent of Bill 3 is to give any and all Bahamian men (married or unmarried) the constitutional right to pass citizenship to children they father out of wedlock with foreign women, once paternity is proven. In a nation where adultery is embedded in the culture, it is important for voters to know that Bill 3 will also allow married Bahamian men who father children out of wedlock through adulterous relationships with foreign women to pass citizenship to those children once paternity is proven. Therefore, the adjective “unmarried” needs to be dropped from The Tribune’s description of the purpose of Bill 3.
I think it would be helpful to point out the deceptive description of the intent of Bill 3 that will be put to voters on June 7. Here’s Question 3 (which The Tribune published a few weeks back):
Bill 3: Approval of alteration to Article 14 of the Constitution.
Do you approve of The Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2014?
Under this proposed change to the Constitution, a Bahamian father of a person born out of wedlock after the coming into operation of this amendment would be able to pass his citizenship to that person subject to legal proof that he is the father.
Yes or No
Notice how the different The Tribune’s description (which is clear) is from the government’s (which is deceptive). In the government’s description there is no mention that Bill 3 seeks to deal with out of wedlock children born of foreign women. The fact is that the out of wedlock children of Bahamian women already have a constitutional entitlement to Bahamian citizenship through their mother, so Bill 3 is not about them.
I have no doubt that this deceptive description is intended to cause some people to vote for Bill 3 who would not otherwise vote for it if they understood its true intent.
PASTOR CEDRIC MOSS
Nassau,
May 2, 2016.
Comments
Economist 7 years, 11 months ago
Clearly, Pastor Cedric Moss has not read our Constitution. Article 6 says "Every person born in The Bahamas after 9th July, 1973 shall become a citizen of The Bahamas at the date of his birth if at that date either of his parents is a citizen of The Bahamas."
Unfortunately, the government has, over the years chosen to say that if the father is not wed to the mother the child does not get the citizenship.
Bill 3 corrects that so the child can get the fathers citizenship, even if the child is born out of wedlock.
The young athlete who featured in the Tribune' in the last 10 days' was born in The Bahamas to a Bahamian father who was not married to the foreign mother. She grew up here, went to school here but is then punished and discriminated against.
Bill 3 is to make sure that such injustice does not occur again.
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 11 months ago
Re-post: As an "Economist" you should devote more time to telling us under employed and unemployed Bahamians why you think things are going to get better for us when thousands and thousands of foreigners are given Bahamian status and come to our shores as a result of the four proposed amendments to our constitution. Many of us Bahamians and our children go to bed hungry every night and go without medicines we need, and have inadequate clothing, shoes with worn soles, etc. not to mention our inability to pay for so many other basic necessities of life; meanwhile the political elite go about squeezing the life out of us just to give citizenship for votes!!!! Come on man, we have had enough!
Economist 7 years, 11 months ago
Re-post: I did not know that you considered your daughters inferior to your sons.
I did not know that you feel that if your son says (In fact he might not be the father and the child may not have any Bahamian blood) he is the father of a child born outside of The Bahamas to a foreign woman that the child is a Bahamian.
But if your daughter has a child (You know for sure that it has Bahamian blood) of a foreign husband that the child is not a Bahamian.
Also, from an economic point of view, the foreign men who come here will, by and large, encourage further investment in The Bahamas and so improve the economy.
Look at the Cayman Islands or Turks and Cacaos and see what the unemployment rates are.
Then look at their immigration policy.
Don't be so scared, the right type of foreigner will help, they wont bite you.
themessenger 7 years, 11 months ago
I don't suppose it occurred to him either that most of our under employed or unemployed are in fact for the most part unemployable. The fact that the government long ago got rid of all of our foreign teachers wouldn't have anything to do with that now, would it?
Publius 7 years, 11 months ago
Good God these preachers are shamefully ignorant
sheeprunner12 7 years, 11 months ago
Most of the unemployed lack equal rights ........ it is called "earning power" ....... the PLP has to FIX that
Well_mudda_take_sic 7 years, 11 months ago
Bahamians had better mark their "X" on the ballot next to the picture of the gate, as it represents (1) the gate to keep thousands of foreigners (wanting Bahamian status) out of our country and (2) the gate to keep same-sex marriages from happening in our country! The corrupt Ingraham-led FNM and Christie-led PLP governments of the past three decades think we are all fools. Even though many of us are either unemployed or under employed, our corrupt government is now hell bent on granting thousands of foreigners Bahamian status in exchange for their vote down the road. We can't afford to let this happen. Bahamians must show up at the polls on June 7th and vote a resounding "NO!" to all four of the proposed amendments to our constitution. Remember....just mark your "X" next to the picture of the gate on your ballot. We must all vote "NO" otherwise we and our families will really be sorry when the wave of foreigners come to our shores to take our jobs for less pay!
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