The Gambia’s Minister of Culture and Tourism , Hamat Bah has sparked another controversy when he said The Gambia is at risk of losing its cultural identity if Gambians living abroad refuses to go back home to marry Gambian women.
Speaking in Switzerland at a meeting with members of the local Gambian community, Minister Bah said he ‘strongly’ believes that Gambians living abroad who are ready to tie the knot should not abandon Gambian ladies for white women.
‘’If you do not do that [marry Gambians], in 10 – 15 years, Gambia will become a mixed-race society’’. He added: ‘’we believe that when you come for greener pastures and succeed, go back and marry our women and come back. Our sisters, our daughters – they are there. They want to be married.”
This is not the first time similar comments landed the Culture Minister in hot waters. Last month, Gambians on the internet, the majority of whom are Diasporans, went wild when similar comments were attributed to the controversial politician.
In Switzerland, however, the Minister who’s supposed to promote cultural diversity and interaction, refused to back down saying he strongly maintained his position.
He was in the European country to attend the Global Review 2017 of Aid for Trade held at the WTO in Geneva.
Hamat Bah is the leader of the National Reconciliation Party, and a prominent member of the coalition government.
Alasan Mbye, who was among the audience at the Geneva meeting and a prominent member of the Gambian-Swiss community, told What’s On- Gambia: “What Hamat said about marrying our own women: I was a little sceptical but after thinking about it I realise that there was some element of truth in it. We have a lot of women out there who are single and searching for husbands.
“However, I don’t support his idea that The Gambia would become a mixed society. This is something that’s going to happen in every part of the world because of immigration. People are moving from one part of the world to another. This is a social phenomenon that nobody has control over.”
Alasan revealed that some members of the audience found the minister’s statement discriminatory.