By Omar Bah
The Gambia Supreme Islamic Council has released its position paper on the draft constitution, strongly contending that ‘secular’ should not be put in the new constitution.
“We strongly reaffirm our position that The Gambia has never been and should never be a secular state. It should remain a non-secular state,” SIC said in a statement read by Sheikh Hama Jaiteh, at a press conference yesterday.
“This is what we inherited from the founding fathers of the nation and this is what is deeply rooted in our social norms and values. Our non-secular status has provided us all the peaceful co-existence, freedom of conscience, liberty to embrace any conviction and the right to enjoy any religious, political, denominational affiliation without being subjected to any restraint or persecution,” Jaiteh said.
See page 5 for the full statement.
