In an address stressing the importance of educating the nation’s children, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell on Sunday expressed concerns that some criminals are being held up as heroes in The Bahamas.
But Minister Mitchell did not point to any specific case in this regard, and stayed clear of speaking about the controversial extradition of Samuel “Ninety” Knowles, the accused drug kingpin who was flown to Florida last week.
“It seems all too easy in this present dispensation for criminals to get on the front page of newspapers and thereby find fame in the simple act of committing a crime,” said the minister, who was speaking at the 150th anniversary service of St. Markﾒs Baptist Church in Fox Hill.
“It seems to give off a message that crime pays because it brings infamy and a picture on a front page.”
He said it is unacceptable and wrong for anyone in this society to promote criminality, whether inadvertently or not, knowing what the country knows about bribery and thievery. Minister Mitchell said in some cases stoves and refrigerators have been given away to buy elections.
“This kind of thing has cost us our freedom in the past,” he added. “Today, government policy cannot be determined by someone who has the potential to bribe public opinion and pay high priced advocates to make idle public noises.”
He pointed out that in the 1980s, the countryﾒs moral fiber was seriously eroded by the drug trade and the criminality connected with it.
“A whole generation of people lost their will to work because of drugs and its ill effects,” Minister Mitchell said. “Many have still not recovered. Today, we know that almost fifty percent of the homicides in our country are due to domestic violence, and the rest due to crimes associated with drugs and other illegal activities. We know also that child abuse is reportedly up some 20 percent.”
He added, “In the face of all these social problems, the role of those who dispense public information should be clear, not to promote criminals and their activities, but to accentuate the positive and to preach reform, not to stir up strife as if life in The Bahamas and its public policy is some silly soap opera when this is real life we are playing with.”
Minister Mitchell said one wonders whether some people have taken leave of their senses.
“This is a country where a minister of government was murdered before by vicious criminals,” he reminded, pointed to the murder of FNM Minister Charles Virgill nearly 10 years ago.
He also said, “The children are the future, and what we say to our children is that they must go to school. They must learn their lessons, and if they choose the side of good, the side of decency and honour, they will succeed.”
Minister Mitchell said his job as a government minister is to protect those quiet, honourable Bahamian citizens who abide by the law and contribute to the betterment of society.
“As a minister, I made an oath to freely give of my advice and counsel for the good management of the public affairs of The Bahamas, and I ended it by saying, ﾑSo help me God!ﾒ No one can impugn the execution of that oath by me or by this government on any score.”
He said it is important for the Churchﾒs voice to be heard on these issues and not be silenced by those who would confuse false logic and immorality.
The Bahama Journal
