Gambia’s president has declared the tiny West African country an Islamic republic, saying he decided this because Islam is the religion of the majority of its citizens and to break from the nation’s colonial past.
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“In line with the country’s religious identity and values, I proclaim Gambia as an Islamic state”, Jammeh declares before his supporters. The smallest country in continental Africa gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965.
President Yahya Jammeh, 50, a military officer and former wrestler from a rural background, has ruled the country with an iron fist. While the declaration is meant to help erase the legacy of colonialism, Gambia will maintain its relationships with foreign governments, he said. “We will be an Islamic state that will respect the rights of all citizens and non-citizens.” he said. Jammeh’s declaration was not to ally Gambia with the jihadist group known as the Islamic State, it was pointed out.
He added that no dress code would be imposed and citizens of other faiths would be allowed to practise freely.
The Supreme Islamic Council, the country’s Islamic body, has so far made no comment on the presidential announcement, with its chairman, Imam Momodou Lamin Touray, saying the declaration had not even been discussed yet.
Meanwhile, Hamat Bah of the National Reconciliation Party disapproved Jammeh’s decision. Since then it has had only two presidents, with Jammeh staying at the helm since 1994.
“There is a constitutional clause that says that Gambia is a secular state”, Bah says.
“As such, he is desperately attempting to foster a closer and more lucrative relationship with the Arab world”.
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The announcement follows Jammeh’s move to take Gambia out of the British Commonwealth in October 2013.
