Komalafe says she’s Bahamian and blasts critics

Komalafe says she’s Bahamian and blasts critics
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) Leader Arinthia Komolafe.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Since being elected over the weekend as the first female leader of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), Arinthia Komolafe has received much public criticism on social media because of her last name, many claiming that she is a foreigner and was therefore not qualified to lead the country.

Komalafe, however, blasted her critics at the DNA’s national convention held over the weekend at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

On Saturday night, Komolafe sought to clear the air for all, explaining that her last name is the result of her marriage to a Nigerian.

The DNA leader said her navel string is buried in the constituency of Farm Road and her ancestral roots are grounded on the island of Exuma and Eleuthera.

“My maternal grandmother, Hilda Francina Cooper is a strong woman and a suffragette who died three years ago…and she hails from the island of Exuma,” Komolafe told convention delegates.

“Likewise, my paternal grandmother, Cynthia Eloise-Brennen, hails from Exuma [and] my paternal grandfather, James Arthur Brennen, hails from the beautiful island of Eleuthera.

“If I were a non-Bahamian fighting like this and they [critics] are hiding in the shadows, those detractors should be ashamed of themselves.

“They are armchair quarterbacks and Facebook ghostwriters who are not prepared to stand in the fray and take the blows. Well let me tell you something; I ain’t light and I ain’t never scared,” Komalafe said.

Earlier this week, former Long Island member of parliament Loretta Butler-Turner also expressed that the country should not be worried about Komalafe’s ancestral ties, especially when looking at past world leaders.

“When you look at the political landscape around the world, people said Barack Obama could not be president of the United States because he was black or because he wasn’t born in America.

“Your detractors will always put things in your way to try to discourage and discredit you,” Butler-Turner said.

“Obviously when you look at the history of this country, there are many leaders like the very first prime minister of The Bahamas [the late Sir. Oscar Lynden Pindling], his father was from Jamaica, a Pindling.

“I don’t think that who this woman [Komolafe] has gotten married to has anything to do with her credentials in terms of being a leader and a possible prime minister of this country. So people should put that to rest immediately.”

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This article was written by Matthew Moxey – Eyewitness News Intern.