Unmarried couples have until the end of the year to legalise their relationships, the Burundi government said Friday, as part of an effort to reform morals in the country.<\/p>\n
The order follows the launch of a campaign this month by President Pierre Nkurunziza \u201cto moralise society\u201d in the tiny nation which for two years has been in the grip of sometimes violent political upheaval.<\/p>\n
Interior ministry spokesman Terence Ntahiraja told AFP the country was facing a population explosion which he blamed on \u201cillegal marriages\u201d, polygamy, bigamy and \u201chundreds of schoolgirls getting pregnant\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said church and state-sanctioned weddings were the solution and were a patriotic duty.<\/p>\n
Nkurunziza said Burundians should show their love for each other \u2014 and their country \u2014 by getting married.<\/p>\n
The government has since been pressuring unwed couples across the country to tie the knot.<\/p>\n
The governor of the southeastern province of Rutana has ordered that \u201cpersons living in common-law unions\u201d should be put on a special list by June 22, while the governor of the northwestern Bubanza province has demanded unspecified \u201csanctions\u201d against aisle-dodgers.<\/p>\n
Costly nuptials<\/strong><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Pierre said he had not married because he could not afford the bride price demanded by his girlfriend\u2019s family.<\/p>\n \u201cShe told me she was pregnant. As I am poor, we decided to come together to raise our child,\u201d he said. \u201cWe thought we would legalise our union as soon as we could afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n That was five years ago and the couple is now onto their third child.<\/p>\n To enact the president\u2019s orders, officials have begun organising mass weddings, something one civil society activist opposed as \u201ca violation of human rights because the state has no right to attack two adults who have decided to live together without being married.\u201d<\/p>\n The activist said the forced marriages were part of a \u201creligious crusade\u201d led by Nkurunziza and his wife, both fervent, born-again evangelical Christians.<\/p>\n Spokesman Ntahiraja dismissed such arguments saying the government\u2019s campaign was within the law.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want Burundians to understand that everyone is responsible for his life, we want order in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll this is done within the framework of the patriotic training programme,\u201d he added, referring to an initiative launched by Nkurunziza in August 2013 to reinforce \u201cpositive traditional values.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2015, when Nkurunziza ran for a controversial third term, at least 500 people have been killed in political violence while around 400,000 have fled Burundi for refugee camps in neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Homepage](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Starr_Woman_7th_Edition_Top_Banner.png\")
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