LIFESTYLE

Gambia orders female civil servants to cover their hair, after being declared an Islamic republic

It's not yet a month since President Yahya Jammeh declared Gambia an Islamic Republic - ostensibly in a bid to break away from its colonial past - but the implications of that announcement are only coming into play. The president maintained that other faiths retained their freedoms regardless but all female civil servants are now required to cover their hair. No reasons were given for the introduction of the new rule, which was announced in a memo that was leaked to local opposition newspapers. The memo, published by Freedom stated 'all female staff' within government d