The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell has announced that nominations for the 2025 National Honours will open on February 1 and close on March 31.

Nominations will be accepted for several categories, including: The Order of National Hero, The Order of The Nation, The Order of The Bahamas, The Order of Excellence, The Order of Distinction, and The Order of Merit. The Order of Lignum Vitae is specifically reserved for individuals under the age of 25.

To qualify, nominees must be Bahamian citizens who have made significant contributions to the nation’s development and progress.

However, some awards — such as The Order of National Hero, The Order of The Nation, and The Order of The Bahamas — are limited to specific groups.

The Order of Excellence, by contrast, is designated for foreign dignitaries or non-Bahamians who have made a positive impact on the country.

“With a few exceptions, all other Societies of Honour are open for nomination to all Bahamians who meet the criteria,” Mr Mitchell said.

The recipients of the honours will be publicly announced by the Governor-General on July 10, in accordance with the National Honours Act of 2016. The awards will be conferred on the second Monday in October.

Mr Mitchell advised that nominees should not be informed of their nominations, as the final decision rests with the advisory committee.

“In order to avoid any disappointment or misunderstanding, it is advisable that nominees should not be informed of a nomination on their behalf,” he said.

Last year, nearly 300 people received National Honours at a ceremony.

Mr Mitchell noted that there has been a concerted effort to ensure that people from the post-independence era, who may have been overlooked in the past, are properly recognised.

“We’ve been meeting on this, and we think that there should be no pre-limit on these awards. In some cases, a number of people in the post-independence era were overlooked. We’re trying to make sure those people are honored as well. The numbers may seem large, but I think it’s appropriate because the families themselves are quite pleased, and the society is quite pleased that those people are given the awards,” he said.

Co-chair and St Barnabas MP Shanendon Cartwright emphasised the importance of providing detailed information in the nomination forms.

“So as they fill out the forms, we need as much information about those individuals, essentially making the case and justification for why they feel they should be on it,” Mr Cartwright said.

“They have been pretty diligent in that regard over the years, but as much information as we can have will help us make informed decisions about which award they should be recognised with.”