President of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh has banned child marriages, AFP news agency reports.
It reports that he announced the ban on Wednesday saying:
Anyone who marries a girl under 18 years will spend 20 years in jail. The girls’ parents would spend 21 years in jail and anyone who knows about it and fails to report the matter to the authorities would spend 10 years in jail.”
He also threatened a jail term for the imam involved in the wedding ceremony.
The president called for legislation to confirm the ban later this month.