DEATH NOTICE

MRS. MARY MAY HEPBURN, age 69 years of #43 Honduras Drive, Freeport, Grand Bahama died at the Rand Memorial Hospital, Freeport, Grand Bahama on Wednesday, April 5th, 2023.

She is survived by her Husband: Evangelist Albert Willard Hepburn; Children: Alcondo Hepburn, Shaun Hepburn, Jeanniemae Hepburn, and Terria Miller; Adopted Son: Rev.T.G. Morrison; Stepmother: Constance Munnings; Daughter-in-law: Nurse Elsie Moss-Hepburn; Son-in-law: Stuart Bradley Miller; Grandchildren: Arianna Wright, Shauntevia and Skylar Hepburn, Taylor and Tate Hepburn, Braniqua Miller, Desmond Grant, Shemar Jervis, Tate and Savontae Hepburn, Sven Hepburn Jr., Devon and Jay Hepburn; Sisters: Ruthmae Johnson-Neely and Cindy Munnings-Rudon; Brothers: Charlton (Nicky), Tracy and Dencil Munnings Jr.; Brother-in-law: Christopher Neely; Sister-in-law: Irene Munnings; Numerous Nieces, Nephews, and a host of other Relatives and Friends.

Arrangements for the Funeral Service are being finalized and will be announced at a later date.

The post MARY MAY HEPBURN appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post MARY MAY HEPBURN appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

Death Notice

For

Daria Barbara Edgecombe, 10

A resident of sunshine park, Died at the Princess Margaret Hospital on Saturday 1st April, 2023.

She is survived by her mother Christina Coakley father Dario Edgecombe; sister: Dakara Edgecombe; grandparents; Christine Dawkins, Leanna McDonald; 7 aunts; 7 uncles; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral arrangements are being finalized and funeral announcements will be announced at a later date.

The post Daria Barbara Edgecombe appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Daria Barbara Edgecombe appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

Funeral services for the late Velma Mae Oliver Forbes age 67 years of Seabreeze Grove and formerly of Nicholls Town, Andros, Bahamas will be held on Saturday, April 8th, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, Farrington Road. Officiating will be Rev. Julia E. Pratt, J. P. assisted by Pastor Dr. Antonio Beckford andOther Ministers of the Gospel.Interment will follow inWoodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road.

Left to cherish her memories are her Two Sons Elvin (Donnell) and Arlington (Shakera) Forbes, Four Grandchildren: Aaron, Alisha "NeNe", Danielle and Elvin Jr. Forbes, Two Sisters: Doreen (Joel) Lewis and Jacqueline Jadotte of Miami Florida, Adopted Sisters: Sheryl, Sharon Rutherford, Judith Taylor and Clarise Williams, Sister-in-Law: Elizabeth Oliver, Numerous Nieces and Nephews: Nadine DeCosta, Aretha Haggard, Anita Lewis, Marcelline Jones, Shasta Jadotte, Glendina Dillbert Valarie Smith, Santisha Artwell, Glenderia Oliver Joel, Delroy, Kirk, Jason and Jamaal Lewis, Cardinal Green, Kevin Marshall, Lenford, Marcus, Antwan Jadotte, Glenroy Jr, Kendrick, Kemron, Travanti & Hugo Oliver, Marvin & Angelo Lockhart, Numerous Grandniece & Grandnephews, numerous cousins, other relatives and friends including; Delwyn Moseley, Joyce Holbert, Joyce Gaitor, Eulise Butler, Louise "Weezy", Erica Hendfield, Adell and Ronnell Forbes, The Entire Oliver Family, Entire Forbes Family, The Brown, McKenzie, Albury, Dawkins, Heastie, Lewis, Treco, Riley, Brooks, Peet, Archer, Sumner, Bowleg, Lightbourne, DeCosta, Christie and Roberts Families, Manvilla Kemp & Family, Dr. Cambridge & Family, The Entire Seabreeze Grove Family, Dr. Holder, The Dental Clinic Department at Princess Margaret Hospital, Dr. Herbert Orlando. Pastor Patton & New Birth Deliverance Family, Information Connection Unlimited (Rhode Island, U.S.A) and a Host of other relatives & friends too numerous to mention.

Viewing will be held at the Celestial Suite at Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium Limited, Robinson and Soldier Roads on Thursday (TODAY) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and at the church on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until service time.

The post Velma Mae Oliver Forbes appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post Velma Mae Oliver Forbes appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres has declared "all women must have the same rights as men to pass on their nationality".

The UN chief made the declaration in a tweet on Tuesday noting, "Today, millions of people worldwide are denied nationality.

"And in 24 countries, women are still not able to pass on their nationality to their children."

The Bahamas is among those countries that do not allow Bahamian men and women to pass on citizenship in the same circumstances.

Article 9 of the constitution permits that children born outside The Bahamas to a Bahamian woman married to a foreign man have a right to be registered at the age of 18 and before 21.

The last Constitutional Commission, chaired by former Attorney General Sean McWeeney, KC, which reported a decade ago, said in its report, "This is one of the provisions that clearly espouses a gender bias, and which should on that account be changed."

The commission said it had received anecdotal evidence of Bahamian women overseas who, in order to evade the provisions of Article 9, have deliberately deferred entering into marriage with their chosen foreign partners until after having children.

"It is regrettable that citizens of The Bahamas would have to resort to making fundamental moral and life choices because of constitutional strictures," the commission said.

One Bahamian woman wrote under a post yesterday highlighting Guterres' statement: "It is way past time (for women to have the same rights as men to pass on their nationality). I'm about to pay $400 to renew my children's permit for the third time. Ridiculous."

The Constitutional Commission recommended that all of the articles of the constitution that provide for the acquisition of citizenship based on birth, descent or marriage should be recast in gender-neutral language with the goal of putting Bahamian men and women on an equal footing with respect to the acquisition and transmission of nationality.

The 2016 effort by the then-Christie administration to provide for women to have the same rights to pass on citizenship failed, as did a referendum in 2002 which also sought to address the inequality.

Both referendums also addressed other constitutional issues, all of which also failed.

After coming to office less than a year after the failed 2016 referendum, the Minnis administration had pledged to provide the right through statute.

Then-Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said in the House of Assembly in November 2017 that there will be legislative change to permit Bahamian women to pass on citizenship to their children regardless of where they are born.

Minnis left office in 2021 having failed to bring any such legislation.

Likewise, the Davis administration has made this commitment.

Speaking in the Senate last June, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said the government intends to advance legislation to allow Bahamian men and women to pass on citizenship in all circumstances by the end of the summer (meaning last summer).

No such legislation has yet been advanced.

At the time, Pinder said, "[That is] something that has been impossible to attain through referenda.

"... We have the strength and the bravery to do it through legislation and bring it to this honorable place, to bring the equality that the former FNM administration shied away from over and over and over again."

The decades-long constitutional interpretation that prevents Bahamian men who have children with foreign women out of wedlock from passing on their Bahamian citizenship has likewise been a thorny issue.

The electorate has also rejected efforts to clarify constitutional language in this regard.

The Privy Council earlier this year heard arguments in relation to this constitutional issue and has not yet ruled on the matter.

Pinder said in February that the government won't bring its citizenship legislation until after the Privy Council has handed down its decision.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR in a paper on "Gender equality, nationality and statelessness 2014", said, "There is a growing willingness and commitment by states to take action to achieve gender equality in nationality laws. In many instances, discriminatory elements of previous nationality laws were 'inherited' by new states shortly after gaining independence from former colonial powers.

"In some cases, these nationality laws have not been reviewed since."

Again, while The Bahamas has since had a constitutional "review", voters in a majority have rejected the elimination of these discriminatory elements.

The post UN chief: All women must have same rights as men to pass on nationality appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

The post UN chief: All women must have same rights as men to pass on nationality appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.