Perry Gladstone Christie

Update on Former Prime Minister Perry Christie

We are pleased to share that Former Prime Minister Perry Christie is progressing extremely well. He recently underwent a successful procedure and continues to recover in good spirits.

The Christie family extends their heartfelt thanks to the dedicated medical team at Doctors Hospital for their exceptional care and professionalism. We also want to express our deep gratitude to the Bahamian people for their support, well wishes, and prayers during this time. Your kindness means the world to us.

— The Christie Family

Statement from the Family of Perry Gladstone Christie

The Christie family remains encouraged by the outpouring of love and support for Former Prime Minister Perry Gladstone Christie. Mr. Christie is currently hospitalized and undergoing further tests. He is in good spirits and maintains his usual optimism.

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has sent well wishes and prayers during this time. Your kindness means the world to us.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

— The Christie Family

Valley In Ya Belly

It is with profound sadness I take note of the sudden passing of my very dear friend and political colleague of many years, the Hon. Obediah Wilchcombe, affectionately known to most of us as Obie. Ours was a friendship and association that spanned more than three decades. I recall in particular the years that we spent together as cabinet ministers during my first and second period as Prime Minister.

In each of these periods, Obie served with distinction as Minister of Tourism. He was a dedicated servant of the people and a chief steward of our nation’s number one industry for some ten years. Any student of the tourism industry for the period of Obie’s ministerial tenure will be left in no doubt as to the magnitude and importance of his numerous accomplishments in relation to the growth and development of Bahamian tourism. The volume of his accomplishments in this regard is truly remarkable and will continue to be lauded by successive generations in the years ahead.

On the partisan front, I will always cherish the memories of Obie’s steadfast loyalty to the great cause for which the Progressive Liberal Party has always stood. He was a deeply committed PLP who had the distinction of serving as national chairman of the party for several years. He approached politics with the same energy, enthusiasm, and passion that
characterised his earlier professional life as one of our nation’s premier radio and television journalists. He had a particular commitment to his native Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.

During his tenure as chairman, he made it a point of visiting these islands with commendable regularity. This was to prove to be an invaluable foundation for his later career as a cabinet minister during which he always displayed a profound passion for the promotion and development of tourism in the Family Islands. He was a popular figure in the hierarchy of the party and was frequently called upon to speak at rallies and other gatherings due to his being an outstanding orator and his in-depth knowledge of the party.

I feel particularly sorry for Obie’s beloved constituents of West End and Bimini. He was thoroughly dedicated to their upliftment and always went to great lengths to ensure their interests were kept in view by his colleagues in cabinet and the House of Assembly.

On a personal level, Obie was a very dear and valued friend of mine for many years. I always enjoyed his company and looked forward to the time we would spend together, not only discussing matters of state, but also a variety of other subjects, including sports and athletics – especially American football and the Miami Dolphins. He was simply a pleasure to be around because he was unfailingly interested in whatever he set his mind to.

Like most of my countrymen, I am left reeling in shock from the news of my dear friend’s passing. It is all so very sudden. I know that in the coming days we should have ample opportunity to recover our balance and reflect more deeply on the legacy Obie Wilchcombe leaves as a political leader and public servant.
He was a masterly debater and an incredibly articulate spokesman. His elocution in the halls of parliament will be sorely missed and his commitment to service will certainly be admired and emulated in the years ahead.

On behalf of my wife Bernadette and all my family, I extend my deepest condolences to Obie’s loved ones and the people of West End and Bimini, who together constituted Obie’s wider family. May he rest in peace.

From our family to yours! Merry Christmas, Bahamas and a Happy New Year!

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It truly is the end of an era, a most magnificent era not only for the United Kingdom, The Commonwealth, and our own Bahamas but for the entire world. Her unswerving fidelity to duty and to service over the course of seven decades was unsurpassed, and is likely to remain so.

Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth was a shining example of personal integrity, steadfastness, courage, grace and dignity that inspired successive generations. She will be remembered with special fondness here in The Bahamas which she visited on a number of occasions, always to the delight of our people and to her unfeigned satisfaction as well.

Speaking for myself personally, it was a pleasure to have been afforded the opportunity to serve non-consecutive terms as first minister of Her Majesty’s constitutional government here in The Bahamas.

I extend condolences to the entire royal family, to the peoples of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and all the nations over which Her Majesty presided as head of state, including most especially our own Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

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48 years of love and counting. Happy Anniversary!