Hamat
N.K. Bah, minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has stated that the government
of The Gambia will never accept sex tourism to be practiced in the country.
Mr.
Bah was speaking on Monday during a joint press conference organised by the
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ministry of Women, Children and Social
Welfare and Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure, as he
rubbished a U.K. online report about paedophilia in the country.
Minister
Bah further said that for someone to say or suggest there is sex tourism in the
country is the most misleading statement to make. He added that there is
nothing like that in the country.
He
defined sex tourism as where the state sanctions sex for people who come as
tourists to enjoy sex; be it men or women.
“For
sex tourism to be practiced in a country, government needs to sanction sex for
people which is not happening in the country,” he clarified.
“We
have nothing like sex tourism. We cannot allow sex tourism in the country
because it is against our laws, our cultures and tradition.”
According
to him, one could be convicted for suggesting that Gambia has sex tourism,
adding that the term sex tourism is totally misinterpreted in the country.
