Gambian government workers are going to work a little less than the rest of the world next month.

Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh declared a four-day work week Monday for public service workers only.

The new decree comes into effect Feb. 1.

The President said the small West African nation needed more time for agriculture and for prayer, reported Reuters.

Their new hours will be Monday to Thursday from 8 am to 6 pm.

Not a bad deal but how long is their lunch break?

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"This new arrangement will allow Gambians to devote more time to prayers, social activities and agriculture - going back to the land to grow what we eat and eat what we grow for a healthy and wealthy nation," the president said in a statement, reported Ventures Africa.

Gambia's population is majority Muslim but is considered secular.

Jammeh, brought to power by a 1994 coup, is controversial and often eccentric character.

In August, he ordered the deaths of dozens of prisoners by firing squad.

International outcry prompted him to suspend the last 38 executions after only nine.

Jemmah also made headlines when he declared that a common herb in Gambia could be used to cure AIDS to the dismay of medical experts.