Gambia's President Revokes Headscarf Order For Female Government Employees

Just a week after Gambia garnered international attention by ordering female government employees to cover their hair at work, President Yahya Jammeh has reversed course. On Wednesday night a recording from state-run broadcaster GRTS showed a television anchor informing the public of the end to the headscarf order.

"The directive for all women to put on a hair dress … in all public places during working hours has been lifted," the anchor said.

Before segueing to another story, the brief announcement stressed Jammeh's concern for Gambian women — in typically florid language: "Women are His Excellency the Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh Babili Mansa's best friends, they are sisters and he is there for their well-being and happiness at all times. That being the case the decision that makes him unhappy has been lifted."

In December, Jammeh, who rose to power through a coup in 1994, announced that Gambia would become an Islamic state, while continuing to uphold the rights of the minority Christian population. In January, heissued the headscarf decree. Gambians living around the world spoke out against the move, as did opposition parties inside the country.

Related: Gambia's President Orders Female Government Workers to Cover Their Hair

Ninety-five percent of Gambians are Muslims, and men and women wear both traditional and Western clothes. Women often do not cover their hair.

Gambia is a country of just 1.8 million people located along the Atlantic coast of West Africa; thousands of tourists visit its beaches each year. It struggles economically and is now sitting at number 165 out of 187 in the UN Development Index rankings. The United States has removed Gambia from a regional trade benefit program known as AGOA, due to growing concern over the human rights situation. In 2014 the European Union also refused to hand over annual funding to the country for similar reasons. Gambians living in the diaspora say they have received an increase in requests for money from family members still living in the country.

Jammeh came to power in a 1994 coup. He has governed with an iron fist, with restrictions on media and crackdowns on dissent, amid allegations of deplorable prison conditions and torture. Moves like declaring Gambia an Islamic state, forcing women to wear headscarves, and anti-LGBT rhetoric are seen by many as a way to gain favor with the Arab and Muslim world as Western countries continue to back away. But the president's actions may not be winning him the favor he is seeking. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia denied visas to a group of Gambian pilgrims whom Jammeh planned to send to Mecca.

Beyond economic concerns, upcoming elections are likely motivating the president's religious rhetoric and policies. Jammeh will seek another term as president during elections this coming December. The country is one of just two nations in West African regional group ECOWAS that does not have term limits.