President Adama Barrow has told the nation’s imams that the country is not governed by Shariah laws and they should understand that laws cannot favour all their wishes.

Barrow made the comments while meeting the committee of Banjul Muslim elders at State House.

“I want our imams to understand this that no one doubts that The Gambia is a Muslim dominated country, but that doesn’t make the country a Shariah country. We all know that 95% of the population is Muslims, but we also have other faiths. The country is governed by secular laws not Shariah laws.

“Therefore, not all the laws will favour you. There must be laws that will not favour you and we should accept that. Even me, there are some laws that don’t favour me,” he said.

Barrow’s remarks come amid row over the contentious female genital mutilation ban which some religious leaders want overturned.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba