In an effort
to reform morals, Burundi government has ordered all unmarried couples until
the end of the year to legalise their relationships.
The
government gave the order on Friday follows the launch of a campaign this month
by President Pierre Nkurunziza “to moralise society” in the tiny nation which
for two years has been in the grip of sometimes violent political upheaval.
Interior
ministry spokesman Terence Ntahiraja said the country was facing a population
explosion which he blamed on “illegal marriages”, polygamy, bigamy and
“hundreds of schoolgirls getting pregnant”.
He said
church and state-sanctioned weddings were the solution and were a patriotic
duty.
Nkurunziza said
Burundians should show their love for each other — and their country — by
getting married.
The
government has since been pressuring unwed couples across the country to tie
the knot.
The governor
of the southeastern province of Rutana has ordered that “persons living in
common-law unions” should be put on a special list by June 22, while the
governor of the northwestern Bubanza province has demanded unspecified
“sanctions” against aisle-dodgers.
Pierre, a
27-year-old farmer living with his partner in Ngozi, in the north, said local
officials had threatened him with a 50,000 Burundian franc ($25/22 euro) fine
and said any child born out of wedlock would not be eligible for free education
and medical costs.
Pierre said
he had not married because he could not afford the bride price demanded by his
girlfriend’s family.
“She told me
she was pregnant. As I am poor, we decided to come together to raise our
child,” he said. “We thought we would legalise our union as soon as we could
afford it.”
That was
five years ago and the couple is now onto their third child.
To enact the
president’s orders, officials have begun organising mass weddings, something
one civil society activist opposed as “a violation of human rights because the
state has no right to attack two adults who have decided to live together
without being married.”
The activist
said the forced marriages were part of a “religious crusade” led by Nkurunziza
and his wife, both fervent, born-again evangelical Christians.
Spokesman
Ntahiraja dismissed such arguments saying the government’s campaign was within
the law.
“We want
Burundians to understand that everyone is responsible for his life, we want
order in this country,” he said.
“All this is
done within the framework of the patriotic training programme,” he added,
referring to an initiative launched by Nkurunziza in August 2013 to reinforce
“positive traditional values.”
Source: Africa
Review
0 Comments